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II 


MADISON  C.  PETERS,  D.D. 

Pastor  Baptist  Church  of  the  Epiphany 
New  York 


The  Jews  in  America 


A  SHORT  STORY  OF  THEIR  PART  IN 
THE    BUILDING   OF  THE  REPUBLIC 


Commemorating  the  Two  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  Their  Settlement 


BY 

MADISON  C.  PETERS,  D.D, 


THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 
CHICAGO  1905  TORONTO 


COPYRIGHTED  1905 

BY 

THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  Co. 


JV 


PREFACE 

OLIVER    WENDELL    HOLMES    in    his 
"Over    The   Teacups,"    says:     "If   the 
creeds  of  mankind  would  try  to  under 
stand  each  other  before  attempting  mutual  ex 
termination,  they  would  be  sure  to  find  a  meaning 
in  beliefs  which  are  different  from  their  own." 
Christians  have  many  things  in  common  with  the 
Jews.     We  can  readily  agree  with  Lessing,  when 
he  makes  the  Christian  monk  say  to  the  Jewish 
Nathan : 

Heaven  bless  us ! 

That  which  makes  me  to  you  a  Christian 
Makes  you  to  me  a  Jew. 

It  was  said  of  Sydney  Smith  that  he  would  not 
read  a  book  which  he  was  to  review, —  reading  it 
might  prejudice  his  judgment.  When  Charles 
Lamb  was  berating  an  enemy,  some  one  said  to 
him,  "Why,  you  don't  know  him."  Lamb  re- 

3 


PREFACE 

plied,  "  I  don't  want  to  know  him,  for  fear  I 
should  like  him." 

Christians  and  Jews  make  ignorance  of  each 
other  a  claim  for  judgment,  and  seem  to  be  afraid 
to  become  acquainted  for  fear  that  they  might  like 
each  other. 

Few  Christians  know  the  relatively  enormous 
part  taken  by  the  Jews,  emancipated  but  a  few  de 
cades,  in  the  civilization  of  mankind.  Lord  Bea- 
consfield,  when  taunted  in  the  House  of  Lords  for 
his  Jewish  extraction,  exclaimed,  "  I  can  well  af 
ford  to  be  called  a  Jew."  When  the  modern  Jew 
enlightens  himself  upon  the  achievements  of  his 
race,  practises  the  virtues  and  avoids  the  faults  of 
his  ancestors,  he  will  prepare  the  way  for  a  glori 
ous  future  for  himself  and  his  descendants. 

When  an  impartial  historian  shall  write  the 
wonderful  achievements  of  the  geniuses  who  pro 
duced  our  civilization,  Jewish  names  will  be  found 
on  every  page,  and  the  Jewish  people  might  well 
take  to  heart  Goethe's  true  lines : 

Willst  du  immer  weiter  schweifen? 
Sieh,  das  Gute  liegt  so  nah. 

4 


PREFACE 

This  brief  story  of  what  the  Jew  has  done  for 
America  is  written  in  commemoration  of  the  250111 
anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  Jews  in  Amer 
ica,  and  is  intended  for  popular  use.  It  is  a  book 
of  facts  rather  than  opinions.  It  puts  into  brief 
space  for  the  busy  reader  some  facts  the  American 
public  should  know.  The  book  is  written  with 
the  hope  that  it  may  modify  the  views  which  the 
Gentile  world  holds  with  regard  to  the  position  of 
the  Jew,  and  the  Author's  fervent  prayer  is  that 
its  facts  may  lead  Christians  to  grant  to  the  pos 
session  of  the  Jew,  the  mental,  moral,  social  and 
spiritual  qualifications  which  history  affirms. 

Special  attention  is  given  to  the  Jew  as  a  pa 
triot.  Renan  said,  "  A  Jew  will  never  be  a  pa 
triot;  he  will  simply  live  in  the  cities  of  others." 
This  implies  that  the  Jew  is  never  a  patriot.  Such 
in  substance  is  the  indictment  brought  against  the 
race  by  the  anti-Semites  of  Europe  and  America. 

Descent  from  the  Jewish  stock  determines,  with 
the  author,  who  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  Jew.  The 
almost  incredible  narrow-minded  illiberally  and 
antagonism  to  Jewish  interests,  of  which  the 

5 


PREFACE 

modern  anti-Semites  are  still  giving  the  world 
too  frequent  and  too  infamous  exhibitions,  ac 
counts,  for  instance,  for  the  descendants  of  Moses 
Mendelssohn  naving  abandoned  Judaism  and 
professed  Christianity.  Such  eminent  men  as 
Heine,  Moscheles,  Joachim,  Rubinstein,  Disraeli, 
Herschel,  and  other  distinguished  English,  Ger 
man,  Polish,  Hungarian  and  Russian- Jewish  mu 
sicians,  poets,  painters,  litterati,  scientists  and 
statesmen,  finding  that  faithfulness  to  their  ancient 
creed  would  interfere  with  the  free  exercise  of 
their  professional  career,  renounced  its  practice 
and  professed  the  dominant  religion  of  their  na 
tive  country.  This,  at  once,  removed  every  ob 
struction,  all  restriction  and  the  religious 
prejudice,  from  which  they  would  otherwise  have 
suffered. 

I  have  gathered  the  facts  for  these  chapters 
from  every  available  source.  I  wish  to  acknowl 
edge  my  indebtedness  to  the  Hon.  Simon  Wolf, 
whose  "  Jew  as  an  American  Citizen,  Soldier  and 
Patriot "  gives  nearly  8,000  names  of  Jews  who 
served  on  both  sides  in  the  Civil  War. 

6 


PREFACE 

The  author  has  incorporated  some  of  the  best 
things  from  the  original  edition  of  "  Justice  to 
the  Jew/'  and  the  "  Jew  as  a  Patriot/'  and  besides 
he  has  added  much  new  material.  The  most 
painstaking  care  possible  has  been  exercised  to 
verify  every  statement  and  to  bring  all  the  facts 
and  figures  down  to  date. 

The  author  is  conscious  that  what  he  has  writ 
ten  gives  but  a  meagre  though  general  idea  of 
what  the  Jew  has  done  for  America.  If  what  he 
has  written  will  remove  prejudice,  and  lead  to 
justice,  the  author  will  feel  well  repaid  for  the 
labor  involved  in  this  refined  study  of  history. 

MADISON  C.  PETERS, 

New  York,  Oct.  i,  1905. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
Jews  in  the  Discovery  of  America. 

Not  Isabella's  Jewels,  but  Jews,  the  Real  Finan 
cial  Basis  of  the  First  Expedition  of  Columbus. 
Dr.  Kayserling's  Investigations.  Emilio  Castelur 
quoted.  Without  the  Scientific  Achievements  of 
the  Jews,  Columbus'  Wonderfully-planned  Voy 
ages  would  have  been  impossible.  The  First 
White  Man  to  Set  Foot  on  American  Soil  a  Jew  15 

CHAPTER  II. 
Jewish  Pre-Revolutionary  Settlements. 

First  Arrival  in  Amsterdam.  Governor  Peter 
Stuyvesant's  Persistent  Hostility.  Denied  Civil 
and  Religious  Liberty  Under  the  English.  Roger 
Williams,  the  Pioneer  of  Religious  Liberty  in 
America,  attracting  the  Jews  to  Newport.  The 
Early  Jews  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Charleston, 
Savannah,  Boston,  etc 27 

CHAPTER  III. 
Jews  in  the  Wars  of  the  Republic. 

New  York  the  First  State  Actually  Granting 
Full  Religious  Liberty  to  the  Jews.  The  Part 
the  Jew  took  in  the  Colonial  Cause  prior  to  the 

ii 


Revolutionary  War.  Haym  Salomon  and  other 
Jews  who  Sacrificed  their  Fortunes  for  Indepen 
dence.  Noted  Hebrews  who  Served  with  Dis 
tinction  Throughout  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  the  War  of  1812.  Jewish  Patriotism  in  the 
Mexican  War.  Honorable  Record  in  the  Regu 
lar  Army  and  Navy.  The  Conspicuous  Part 
which  the  Jews  took  in  the  Civil  War.  Jews 
and  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Movement.  Jews 
who  Served  in  the  American  Armies  during  the 
War  with  Spain 39 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Jew  in  American  Politics. 

Jewish  Congressmen  and  United  States  Sen 
ators.  Judges  and  Diplomats.  Other  Jewish 
Office  Holders  and  their  Power  for  Good  in 
Political  Life 65 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Jew  in  Finance. 

Jews  not  so  Rich  as  Popularly  Supposed.  The 
Part  of  the  Jews  in  rearing  the  Great  Metro 
politan  Centres  of  Commerce  .  .  .  .75 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Jews  in  the  Arts  and  Sciences. 

America's  Poets,  Dramatists,  Novelists,  Paint 
ers,  Musicians,  Editors,  and  Professors  of  the 
Jewish  Faith.  Jewish  Inventors,  Doctors  and 
Jurists 85 

12 


CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Number  of  Jews  in  the  United  States 

Jewish  Emigration.  Population  in  Time  of 
Revolutionary  War.  In  Time  of  Civil  War. 
Population  by  States.  Population  the  World 
Over.  Population  by  Continents  and  Countries  95 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Characteristics  of  the  Jews. 

Longevity;  next  to  the  Quakers,  Jews  are  the 
Longest  Lived  People  on  Record.  Why  the 
Jews  are  less  subject  to  Consumption,  etc.  A 
Law-abiding  People.  The  Tew  in  Charity.  The 
World's  Debt  to  the  Jew  for  the  Bible  .  .  103 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Anti-Semitism  in  America. 

The  Jew  does  not  Receive  the  Treatment  he 
Merits  as  a  Man,  even  in  America.  Samples 
of  Injustice.  The  Jew  is  what  we  Made  him. 
The  Prejudice  that  exists  Against  Him  must  be 
Traced  to  this  Leading  Cause:  One  is  Made 
Responsible  for  All  and  All  are  Made  Responsible 
for  One.  The  Anti-Semite  is  a  coward.  The 
cry  of  a  Jew  Hater  is  the  Cry  of  the  Beaten 
Man.  Why  the  Jew  Wins  .  .  .  .123 


The  Jews  in  America 
i 

JEWS  IN  THE  DISCOVERY 
OF  AMERICA 

THE  great  majority  of  Americans,  Jews  and 
non-Jews,  are  but  little  acquainted  with  the 
part  the  Jews  played  in  the  discovery  and 
early  settlement  of  the  United  States.  With  the 
same  hand  and  the  same  pen,  and  on  the  same 
day,  on  which  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  signed  that 
infamous  edict,  which  drove  more  than  two  hun 
dred  thousand  Jews  from  the  land  of  their  birth, 
because  they  declined  to  have  Christianity  forced 
upon  them,  they  also  signed  the  articles  of  agree 
ment  that  authorized  Cristobal  Colon,  as  the 
Spaniards  called  Columbus,  to  go  forth  in  search 

15 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

of  another  world,  where,  in  the  words  of  Castelar, 
the  distinguished  Spanish  publicist,  "  Creation 
should  be  new-born,  a  haven  be  afforded  to  the 
quickening  principle  of  human  liberty,  and  a 
temple  be  reared  to  the  God  of  enfranchised  and 
redeemed  conscience." 

Dr.  Moses  Kayserling,  of  Buda-Pesth,  for 
years  the  acknowledged  master  of  Spanish-Jewish 
history,  has  made  a  thorough  search  of  the  Span 
ish  archives  and  records,  including  those  of  the 
Inquisition,  which  had  never  before  been  open 
to  such  a  Jewish  investigator.  The  result  is  his 
valuable  work,  entitled  "  Christopher  Columbus 
and  the  Participation  of  the  Jews  in  the  Spanish 
and  the  Portuguese  Discoveries."  Although  an 
English  translation  has  been  published,  the  work 
is  so  heavy  and  so  specialized  that  very  few 
people  seem  to  have  read  the  book.  Since  that 
time,  the  late  Prof.  Herbert  B.  Adams,  in  one  of 
the  valuable  series  of  historical  studies  published 
by  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  has  said,  "  Not 
Jewels,  but  Jews,  were  the  real  financial  basis  of 
the  first  expedition  of  Columbus." 

16 


IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

Dr.  Kayserling  has,  beyond  a  doubt,  pointed 
out  that  two  Marranos,  or  secret  Jews,  Luis  de 
Santangel  and  Gabriel  Sanchez  —  the  former 
the  chancellor  of  the  royal  household  and  comp 
troller-general  in  Arragon,  and  the  latter  chief 
treasurer  of  Arragon  —  enormously  rich  mer 
chants,  who  enjoyed  the  favor  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  supplied  the  funds  needed  to  fit  out 
Columbus'  caravels.  Isabella  did  not  sell  her 
valuable  jewels  to  fit  out  Columbus  for  his  voy 
age.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  she  had  al 
ready  pawned  or  sold  them  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  wars  then  devastating  her  country.  Dr. 
Kayserling  clearly  shows  that  the  jewel  story  is 
false  and  mythical, —  a  fact  previously  proved  by 
another  Jew,  that  great  authority  on  Columbus, 
Henry  Harrisse.  Justin  Winsor,  in  his  "  Chris 
topher  Columbus,"  has  this  to  say  of  the  jewel 
story :  "  But  Harrisse  finds  no  warrant  for  it, 
and  judges  the  advance  of  funds  to  have  been 
made  by  Santangel  from  his  private  revenues  and 
in  the  interests  of  Castile  only.  And  this  seems 
to  be  proved  by  the  invariable  exclusion  of 

17 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Ferdinand's  subjects  from  participating  in  the 
advantages  of  trade  in  the  new  lands,  unless  an 
exception  was  made  for  some  signal  service. 
This  rule,  indeed,  prevailed  even  after  Ferdinand 
began  to  reign  alone."  Dr.  Kayserling  cites  high 
Spanish  authority  from  original  account-books 
and  records,  and  narrates  Santangel's  interview 
with  the  Queen  as  follows :  "  Santangel,  the 
story  continues,  was  much  delighted  at  the 
Queen's  resolve,  and  declared  that  it  was  not 
necessary  for  her  to  pledge  her  jewels ;  he  would 
be  pleased,  he  said,  to  advance  the  money  neces 
sary  for  the  expedition,  and  would  be  glad  of 
the  opportunity  to  perform  so  small  a  service  for 
her  and  for  his  master  the  King."  Columbus' 
son,  Fernando,  and  Oviedo  give  similar  accounts 
of  the  interview.  Dr.  Kayserling  continues : 
"  At  that  time  neither  Arragon  nor  Castile, 
neither  Ferdinand  nor  Isabella,  had  at  their  dis 
posal  enough  money  to  equip  a  fleet.  Santangel, 
who  was  always  ready  to  oblige  the  Crown,  ad 
vanced  17,000  florins  —  nearly  5,000,000  mara- 
vedis.  The  Queen's  jewels  were  not  demanded 

18 


IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

as  security;  all  of  them  were  not,  in  fact,  in  her 
possession  at  that  time,  for  she  had  pledged  her 
necklace  during-  the  late  war.  Santangel's  extra 
ordinary  services  in  this  matter  are  clearly  demon 
strated  by  the  excessive  praise  which  Ferdinand 
accorded  his  '  well-beloved '  Luis  de  Santangel, 
and  by  the  many  proofs  of  gratitude  which  the 
King  gave  him.  That  he  advanced  this  money 
out  of  his  own  pocket  is  proved  beyond  question 
by  the  original  account-books  which  were  former 
ly  in  the  archives  of  Simancas,  and  which  are  still 
preserved  in  the  Archive  de  Indias  in  Seville.  In 
the  account-book  of  Luis  de  Santangel  and  the 
treasurer,  Francisco  Pinelo,  extending  from  1491 
to  1493,  Santangel  is  credited  with  an  item  of 
1,400,000  maravedis  which  he  gave  to  the  Bishop 
of  Avila  for  Columbus*  expedition.  In  another 
account-book,  that  of  Garcia  Martinez  and  Pedro 
de  Montemayor,  there  is  the  following  item: 
'  Alonso  de  las  Calezas,  treasurer  of  war  in  the 
bishopric  of  Badajoz,  by  order  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Granada,  dated  May  5,  1492,  paid  to  Alonso 
de  Angelo  for  Luis  de  Santangel,  the  King's 

19 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

escribano  de  racion,  whose  authorization  was  pre 
sented  with  the  aforesaid  order,  2,640,000  mara- 
vedis,  to  wit,  1,500,000  in  payment  to  Isaac  Abra- 
vanel  for  money  which  he  had  lent  their  Majesties 
in  the  Moorish  war,  and  the  remaining  1,140,000 
maravedis  in  payment  to  the  aforesaid  escribano 
de  racion  of  money  which  he  advanced  to  equip 
the  caravels  ordered  by  their  Majesties  for  the 
expedition  to  the  Indies,  and  to  pay  Christopher 
Columbus,  the  admiral  of  that  fleet/  On  May  20, 
1493,  on  which  day  Ferdinand  was  particularly 
occupied  with  Columbus  and  his  expedition,  the 
King  ordered  his  treasurer-general,  Gabriel  San 
chez,  to  pay  30,000  florins  gold  to  '  his  beloved 
councillor  and  escribano  de  racion,  Luis  de  San- 
tangel.'  This  sum  certainly  included  the  re- 
mainder  of  the  loan/* 

Emilio  Castelar,  the  Spanish  statesman  and 
orator,  already  quoted,  has  given  us  the  facts,  as 
to  Columbus'  long  and  futile  efforts  to  interest 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  in  his  project,  as  well  as 
to  Columbus'  actual  departure  from  the  Spanish 
Court,  discouraged  and  turning  to  France: 

20 


IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

"  Quintanilla  had  opened  to  Columbus  the  path 
way  to  the  court,  Santangelo  (as  Castelar  names 
Luis  de  Santangel)  opened  the  road  to  Palos.  Of 
a  family  of  converts,  himself  but  recently  a  Chris 
tian,  one  of  those  antique  Jews  who  have  so 
greatly  helped  to  enlighten  the  Christian  world, 
like  the  Caragenas  of  Burgos,  for  instance,  he 
joined,  as  is  the  nature  and  tendency  of  his  race, 
the  love  of  the  ideal,  appropriate  to  the  prophets 
divinely  inspired  of  the  Lord,  to  the  reflective 
calculations  of  the  schemer  and  the  mathematician. 
It  is  a  historical  fact  that  one  day  Ferdinand  V., 
on  his  way  from  Arragon  to  Castile,  and  needing 
some  ready  cash,  as  often  happened,  owing  to 
the  impoverishment  of  those  kingdoms,  halted  his 
horse  at  the  door  of  SantangeFs  house  in  Calata* 
yud,  and,  dismounting,  entered  and  obtained  a 
considerable  sum  from  the  latter* s  inexhaustible 
private  coffers.  He  must  have  enjoyed  great 
power,  for  although  some  of  his  near  kinsfolk 
took  part  in  the  immolation  of  Pedro  Arbues,  the 
first  inquisitor,  who  was  slain  in  the  cathedral  of 
Saragossa  in  the  frenzy  of  a  popular  uprising,  no 
21 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

harm  came  to  Ferdinand's  treasurer,  neither  did 
he  fall  from  royal  favor  nor  incur  the  usual  pen 
alty  of  infamy.  As  soon  as  Santangelo  heard 
of  the  flight  of  Columbus  he  went  to  the  Queen's 
chamber  and  implored  her  to  order  him  to  return, 
being  supported  in  this  by  the  Marchioness  of 
Maya.  And  when  the  Queen  complained  of  the 
exorbitant  demands  of  the  discoverer,  he  reminded 
her  that  the  cost  would  be  but  a  trifling  considera 
tion  if  the  attempt  succeeded,  and  if  it  failed  could 
be  reduced  to  next  to  nothing.  When  to  this 
cogent  reasoning  the  Queen  objected  the  empti 
ness  of  the  Castilian  treasury  and  the  need  of 
again  pawning  her  jewels  to  raise  the  means,  San 
tangelo  unhesitatingly  assured  her  of  the  flourish 
ing  state  of  the  Arragonese  finances,  doubtless  be 
cause  of  the  revenues  yielded  by  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jews,  and  of  the  resources  there  available, 
promising  at  the  same  time  to  win  over  the  per 
plexed  and  inert  mind  of  Ferdinand  the  Catho 
lic.  Thereupon  messengers  were  sent  post-haste 
who  stopped  Columbus  at  a  neighboring  bridge 
some  two  leagues  away,  and  made  him  turn  back 

22 


IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

to  Granada,  where,  in  April,  1492,  the  articles 
of  agreement  known  as  the  capitulations  of  Santa 
Fe  were  signed,  granting  Columbus  all  he  asked." 
The  maps,  which  Columbus  used,  were  drawn 
up  by  Jafuda  or  Jehuda  Cresques,  known  also  as 
Mestre  Jaime  Ribes,  the  "  Map-Jew,"  or  "  Com 
pass-Jew,"  who  was  director  of  the  Portuguese 
Academy  at  Sayres  and  instructor  in  the  art  of 
navigation  and  the  manufacture  of  nautical  instru 
ments  and  maps,  while  he  made  many  improve 
ments  in  the  compass  and  in  the  application  of 
astronomy  to  navigation,  which  alone  made  pos 
sible  Columbus'  wonderfully  well-planned  voy 
ages.  Columbus  derived  much  value  from  the 
astronomical  tables  of  Abraham  Zacuto.  These 
tables  were  translated  from  the  Hebrew  into  Latin 
and  Spanish  by  Joseph  Vecincho,  Zacuto's 
pupil,  another  Jew,  distinguished  as  a  physi 
cian,  cosmographer,  and  mathematician;  and 
it  was  he  who  presented  a  copy  to  the  Genoese 
navigator,  which  Columbus  found  of  great  service 
on  his  voyages.  This  copy,  with  notes  and  glosses 
in  Columbus'  handwriting,  still  exists  in  Spain. 

23 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Without  these  Jewish  inventions,  the  discoveries 
of  Columbus  would  have  been  impossible. 

Columbus  wrote :  "  I  have  had  constant  rela 
tions  with  many  learned  men,  clergy  and  laymen, 
Jews  and  Moors  and  many  others."  In  his  will, 
Columbus  refers  to  one  of  these  Jews,  whose  iden 
tity  is  unknown.  Washington  Irving'  says  that 
this  legacy  of  a  half-mark  of  silver  to  a  poor  Jew 
who  lived  in  Lisbon  was  probably  a  trivial  debt  of 
conscience  or  reward  for  some  service  received. 

Rodrig-o  Sanchez,  a  cousin  of  Gabriel  Sanchez, 
was  designated  to  accompany  the  expedition  as 
•veedor,  or  superintendent,  at  the  special  request 
of  Queen  Isabella.  The  ship-physician,  Maestre 
Bernal,  the  surgeon,  Marco,  and  a  sailor,  Alonso 
de  la  Calle,  were  Jews.  It  was  a  Jew,  Rodrigo 
de  Triana,  who  first  saw  the  land,  and  another 
Jew,  Luis  de  Torres,  taken  along  because  he  un 
derstood  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  some  Arabic,  as 
interpreter  in  the  Oriental  lands  which  Columbus 
expected  to  reach,  who  was  the  first  white  man 
to  set  foot  on  American  soil,  having  been  sent 
ashore  to  greet  the  Grand  Khan  of  India,  whose 
24 


IN  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  AMERICA 

country  Columbus  believed  he  had  reached  by  a 
new  route.  Torres  was  also  the  first  European  to 
discover  the  use  of  tobacco. 

Columbus  in  his  Journal,  writing  of  his  first 
voyage  of  discovery  as  coincident  with  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Spain,  has  the 
following  suggestive  sentence :  "  So  after  hav 
ing  expelled  the  Jews  from  your  dominions, 
your  Highnesses,  in  the  same  month  of  Jan 
uary,  ordered  me  to  proceed  with  a  suffi 
cient  armament  to  the  said  regions  of  India." 
Castelar,  commenting  on  this  point,  writes :  "  It 
chanced  that  one  of  the  last  vessels  transporting 
into  exile  the  Jews  expelled  from  Spain  by  the 
religious  intolerance  of  which  the  recently  created 
and  odious  Tribunal  of  the  Faith  was  the  embodi 
ment,  passed  by  the  little  fleet  bound  in  search 
of  another  world.  As  though  the  sun  were  not 
to  shine  for  all,  as  though  the  will  of  Heaven 
had  not  made  us  equal,  the  assured  spirit  of  reac 
tion  was  wreaking  one  of  its  stupendous  and  fu 
tile  crimes  in  that  very  hour  when  the  genius  of 
liberty  was  searching  the  waves  for  the  land  that 

25 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

must  needs  arise  to  offer  an  unstained  abode  for 
the  ideals  of  progress.  Following  their  narrow 
views,  the  powers  of  the  Middle  Ages  denied 
even  light  and  warmth  to  the  Jews  at  the  same 
time  that  they  revealed  a  new  creation  for  a  new 
order  of  society,  that  was  predestined  by  Provi 
dence  to  put  an  end  to  all  intolerance,  and  to 
dedicate  an  infinite  continent  to  modern  democ 
racy/' 


26 


II 


JEWISH  PRE-REVOLUTIONARY 
SETTLEMENTS 

THERE  seems  to  be  evidence  that  Jews,  sol 
diers  and  sailors,  reached  New  Amster 
dam,  as  New  York  City  was  then  called, 
as  early  as  1652,  having  been  sent  here  by  the 
directors  of  the  West  India  Company.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  the  Amsterdam  merchants 
came  over  with  special  grants  of  rights  and  priv 
ileges  from  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  in 
which  Jews  were  heavily  interested  as  stockhold 
ers,  and  which  is  said  to  have  had  some  Jewish 
directors. 

The  first  Jewish  settlers  in  New  Amsterdam 
whose  names  have  been  handed  down,  were  Jacob 
Barsimson  and  Jacob  Aboaf,  who  arrived  on  No- 
27 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

vember  gth,  1654,  in  the  ship  "  Pear  Tree."  They 
were  followed  in  the  same  year  by  a  party  of  23 
who  arrived  in  the  bark  "  St.  Catarina,"  from 
Brazil  (the  part  of  America  first  inhabited  by  a 
large  number  of  Jews),  abandoning  Brazil  when 
the  Dutch  evacuated  that  country,  and  once  again 
in  all  possible  haste  they  sought  the  shelter  of  a 
Dutch  colony.  Upon  arrival  their  goods  were 
seized  and  sold  at  public  auction  for  the  payment 
of  their  passage,  and  the  amount  realized  by  the 
sale  being  insufficient,  the  master  of  the  vessel 
applied  to  the  court  for  an  order  that  two  of  the 
new  arrivals  as  principals,  be  held  as  hostages  un 
til  the  full  amount  was  paid.  Accordingly  David 
Israel  and  Moses  Ambrosius  were  placed  under 
civil  arrest,  pending  payment  in  accordance  with 
the  debtors'  laws  of  that  day. 

The  following  spring  other  Jews  arrived  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Brazil  increasing 
the  Jewish  residents  in  New  York  gave  ground 
for  the  belief  that  their  number  would  grow  enor 
mously.  The  bigoted  Governor,  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant,  requested  the  director  of  the  West  India 
28 


PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SETTLEMENTS 

Company  in  Amsterdam  that  "  none  of  the  Jewish 
nation  be  permitted  to  infest  the  New  Nether 
lands."  The  answer  was  worthy  of  tolerant  Hol 
land —  that  his  request  "was  inconsistent  with 
reason  and  justice."  Incensed  at  Stuyvesant's 
unwarranted  assumption  of  authority,  an  act  was 
passed  permitting  the  Jews  to  reside  and  trade  in 
New  Netherlands,  "  so  long  as  they  cared  for  their 
own  poor."  If  those  narrow-minded  old  burghers 
could  see  how  well  the  Jews  kept  their  promise, 
they  would  open  their  eyes  in  surprise  at  the  many 
magnificent  benevolent  institutions,  covering  every 
conceivable  case  of  need  and  suffering,  which  tes 
tify  to  the  inborn  kindness  of  the  Hebrew's  heart. 
The  Jews  of  New  York  alone  for  their  twelve 
leading  charities  are  now  contributing  upwards  of 
$1,000,000  a  year. 

In  1656  D'Andrade  was  denied  the  privilege  of 
holding  real  estate.  During  the  same  year  the 
governor  through  the  council,  which  he  absolutely 
controlled,  as  well  as  the  burgomasters,  refused 
De  Lucena  permission  to  prepare  a  burial  ground 
for  the  Jews.  A  few  months  later  this  decision 
29 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

was  revoked.  An  interesting  example  of  the 
"  good  old  times  "  is  the  fact  that  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  appealed  in  vain  to  the  Dutch  government 
for  permission  to  settle  in  its  American  domains 
before  the  Plymouth  settlement  was  made. 

In  1664  the  city  was  captured  by  the  English, 
and  its  name  changed  to  New  York  in  honor  of 
the  Duke  of  York.  The  charter  of  liberties  and 
privileges  adopted  by  the  Colonial  Assembly  in 
1683  extended  religious  freedom  to  all  but  Jews, 
and  the  Mayor  and  the  Common  Council  of  New 
York  in  1685,  considering  the  Jews'  petition  "  for 
liberty  to  exercise  their  religion/*  referred  to 
them  by  Governor  Dongan,  decided  that  no 
"  public  worship  is  tolerated  by  act  of  assembly, 
but  to  those  that  profess  faith  in  Christ,  and 
therefore  the  Jew's  worship  was  not  to  be  al 
lowed." 

When  James,  Duke  of  York,  became  King 
James  II.,  Governor  Andros,  who  succeeded  Don 
gan,  was  instructed  to  "  permit  all  persons,  of 
whatever  religion,  freedom  to  worship,"  and  we 
find  in  1695  a  synagogue  (on  the  north  side  of 

30 


PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SETTLEMENTS 

Mill  Street,  a  street  no  longer  in  existence)  which 
may  have  been  built  as  early  as  1691,  for  a  his 
torian  of  this  period  speaks  of  the  Jews  as  one  of 
the  sects,  and  then  adds  that  each  sect  had  its 
church. 

The  prohibition  against  the  Jews  going  into 
retail  trade,  which  was  a  Dutch  law  which  some 
how  remained  operative  under  English  law,  was 
gradually  dropped,  for  we  find  Jews  engaged  in 
retail  trade  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  One  of  the  great  merchants  of  this 
period  (about  1768  to  1790)  was  Hay  man  Levy, 
who  traded  with  the  Indians,  and  an  historian  of 
that  day  claims  that  he  was  "  actually  worshipped 
by  the  red  man."  John  Jacob  Astor  acquired  his 
first  experience  in  the  fur  trade  while  in  Levy's 
employ.  Upon  his  books  are  entries  of  moneys 
paid  to  John  Jacob  Astor,  for  beating  furs  at 
$1.00  per  day.  Nicholas  Low,  ancestor  of  Seth 
Low,  served  as  Levy's  clerk  for  seven  years,  and 
then  laid  the  foundation  of  his  great  fortune  in 
a  hogshead  of  rum  purchased  from  his  former 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

employer,  who  besides  rendered  him  substantial 
assistance. 

On  a  question  concerning  the  contested  seat 
of  Colonel  Frederick  Phillips  of  Westchester 
County,  the  general  assembly  of  New  York,  on 
September  23rd,  1737,  resolved  that  Jews  could 
neither  vote  for  representatives  nor  be  admitted 
as  witnesses. 

The  Jews  of  New  York  were  not  on  a  footing 
of  political  equality  with  Christians  prior  to  the 
Revolution.  By  the  first  constitution  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  adopted  in  1777,  they  were 
put  on  an  absolute  equality  with  all  other  citi 
zens,  New  York  having  been  the  first  State  actu 
ally  granting  full  religious  liberty. 

Bancroft  has  referred  to  Maryland  as  among 
the  first  colonies  which  "  adopted  religious  free 
dom  as  the  basis  of  the  State."  But  its  religious 
freedom  was  limited  to  those  within  the  province 
who  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  was  accom 
panied  by  a  proviso  which  declared  that  any  per 
son  who  denied  the  Trinity  should  be  punished 
with  death.  Maryland  therefore  was  no  place  for 

32 


PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SETTLEMENTS 

the  Jew.  Even  after  the  Revolution,  though  un 
der  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  a  Jew 
was  eligible  to  any  office,  no  one  could  hold  any 
office  under  the  government  of  Maryland  without 
signing  a  declaration  that  he  believed  in  the  Chris 
tian  religion.  This  disability  was  not  removed 
until  February  26th,  1825,  when  the  legislature 
finally  passed  the  bill  according  to  the  Jew  his  full 
civil  rights. 

From  the  period  of  the  riot,  in  1749,  "  directed 
against  a  Jew  and  his  wife,"  according  to  Gov 
ernor  Clinton's  report  to  London,  to  the  Revolu 
tion,  there  was  but  little  increase  in  the  Jewish 
population  in  New  York.  A  few  additions  were 
made  by  immigration  from  England,  but  not  suf 
ficient  to  counteract  the  emigration  to  Charleston, 
Philadelphia  and  especially  to  Newport.  At 
tracted  by  the  tolerance  of  Roger  Williams,  a 
fugitive  himself  from  persecution,  and  disheart 
ened  by  Stuyvesant's  persistent  persecutions, 
many  Jews  made  their  way  to  Newport  as  early 
as  1657,  and  for  twenty  years  preceding  our 
Revolutionary  War,  Newport  was  one  of  the  prin- 

33 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

cipal  cities  in  the  American  colonies,  in  commer 
cial  importance  ranking  with  Boston  and  Phila 
delphia,  for  Edward  Eggleston  tells  us  that  "  he 
was  thought  a  bold  prophet  who  then  said  that 
'  New  York  might  one  day  equal  Newport/  "  for, 
about  1750,  New  York  sent  forth  fewer  ships  than 
Newport,  and  just  half  as  many  as  Boston.  It 
was  the  fair  treatment  of  the  Jews  under  Roger 
Williams,  the  pioneer  of  religious  liberty,  which 
caused  the  Puritan,  Cotton  Mather,  in  his  "  Mag- 
nalia  "  to  characterize  Newport  as  "  the  common 
receptacle  of  the  convicts  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
outcasts  of  the  land." 

An  occasional  Jew  may  have  strayed  into  other 
parts  of  New  England,  but  the  Puritans  had  no 
use  for  the  Jew  —  unless  he  became  a  convert. 
The  best  known  of  the  early  settlers  was  Judah 
Monis,  who  embraced  Christianity  and  filled  the 
chair  of  Hebrew  in  Harvard  College  from  1722 
until  his  death  in  1764. 

The  first  documentary  evidence  regarding  the 
settlement  of  Jews  in  Philadelphia  dates  from  the 
year  1726,  although  it  is  known  that  Jews  settled 

34 


PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SETTLEMENTS 

in  Schaefersville,  Lancaster,  York  and  Easton  as 
early  as  1655.  In  1662  the  Mennonites  drew  up 
articles  of  association,  their  object  "  being  to  es 
tablish  a  harmonious  society  of  persons  of  differ 
ent  religious  sentiments,  it  was  determined  to 
exclude  from  it  all  intractable  people,  such  as 
those  in  communion  with  the  Roman  See;  usuri 
ous  Jews;  stiff-necked  English  Quakers;  Puri 
tans;  foolhardy  believers  in  the  millennium,  and 
obstinate  modern  pretenders  to  revelation."  Evi 
dently  there  were  Jews  in  Pennsylvania  at  least 
twenty-five  years  prior  to  the  landing  of  William 
Perm. 

It  is  likely  that  Maryland  was  the  first  colony 
in  which  Jews  settled,  though  they  were  probably 
only  stragglers,  they  seem  to  have  arrived  shortly 
after  the  establishment  of  the  provincial  govern 
ment  in  1634.  As  early  as  1657  Dr.  Jacob  Lum- 
brozo  was  settled  there  and  letters  of  denization 
were  issued  to  him  September  10,  1663.  He  had 
a  plantation,  and  also  practised  medicine. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  1773,  a  party  of  forty  Jews 
sailed  up  the  Savannah  River  on  a  vessel  direct 

35 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

from  London,  arriving  in  the  very  midst  of  a 
public  dinner  given  by  Oglethorpe,  who  had  as 
sembled  the  colonists  for  the  purpose  of  allotting 
to  each  settler  his  proportion  of  land,  and  of  or 
ganizing  a  local  government. 

In  spite  of  much  determined  opposition  to  the 
newcomers,  the  benevolent  Oglethorpe  befriended 
the  Jews,  wrote  to  England  praising  their  enter 
prise  and  worth,  calling  special  attention  to  one 
of  their  number,  Dr.  Nunes,  for  his  attention  to 
the  sick,  and  other  valuable  services.  Another 
of  their  number  was  Abraham  de  Lyon,  a  horti 
culturist,  who  was  the  first  in  this  country  to  in 
troduce  successfully  useful  foreign  plants. 

It  was  the  industry  and  intelligence  of  the  Jews, 
and  the  subsequent  arrivals  of  a  few  Moravians 
and  Highlanders  from  Scotland,  who  made  a  suc 
cess  of  Oglethorpe' s  scheme,  for  it  is  a  well 
known  fact  that  the  colonists  were  idle,  dissolute, 
mutinous  and  unwilling  to  protect  the  colony  from 
the  Spaniards,  who  threatened  its  destruction. 

With  the  departure  of  Oglethorpe  from  Geor 
gia,  and  on  account  of  the  persistent  hostility  of 

36 


PRE-REVOLUTIONARY    SETTLEMENTS 

the  trustees  of  the  London  Company,  subject  not 
only  to  civil  disabilities,  but  with  the  rest  of  the 
population,  to  unreasonable  demands,  many  Jews 
gradually  moved  from  Savannah,  and  settled  in 
the  rising  city  of  Charleston. 

On  the  following  day,  the  Jewish  New  Year, 
1750,  the  first  Hebrew  congregation  was  formed 
in  Charleston.  During  the  struggle  for  Independ 
ence  the  Jews  of  Charleston,  as  elsewhere  noted, 
distinguished  themselves  by  their  patriotism;  not 
a  single  Tory  was  found  among  them.  In  1816 
Charleston  numbered  over  600  Jews,  then  the 
largest  Jewish  population  of  any  city  in  the 
United  States;  to-day  it  has  about  2,000,  a  pro 
portion  smaller  than  in  1816;  this  is  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  city  is  no  longer  the  commercial  cen 
tre  it  was  before  the  war. 


37 


Ill 

JEWS  IN  THE  WARS  OF 
THE  REPUBLIC 

THE  Non-Importation  Resolutions  in  1765, 
the  first  organized  movement  in  the  agita 
tion  for  separation  from  the  mother  coun 
try, —  a  document  still  preserved  in  Carpenter's 
Hall,  Philadelphia,  contains  the  following  Jewish 
names:     Benjamin  Levy,  Samson  Levy,  Joseph 
Jacobs,  Hayman  Levy,  Jr.,  David  Franks,  Ma- 
thias  Bush,  Michael  Gratz,  Bernard  Gratz,  and 
Moses  Mordecai. 

In  1779,  a  corps  of  volunteer  infantry  com 
posed  chiefly  of  Hebrews  under  command  of  Cap 
tain  Lushington,  was  raised  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  These  soldiers  afterward  fought  with 
great  bravery  under  General  Moultrie  at  Beaufort. 
39 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

The  decision,  reached  in  New  York,  in  1770, 
to  make  more  stringent  the  Non-Importation 
Agreement  which  the  colonists  had  adopted  to 
bring  England  to  terms  on  the  taxation  question, 
had  among  its  signers  Samuel  Judah,  Hayman 
Levy,  Jacob  Moses,  Jacob  Meyers,  Jonas  Phillips, 
and  Isaac  Seixas. 

At  a  time  when  the  sinews  of  war  were  essen 
tial  to  success,  Haym  Salomon,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  countryman  and  intimate  associate  of  Pulaski 
and  Kosciusko,  responded  to  Robert  Morris's  ap 
peal  with  $300,000;  and  it  is  variously  estimated 
that  he  gave,  all  told,  $600,000,  not  a  penny  of 
which  has  ever  been  repaid  to  the  heirs  of  the 
philanthropist,  and  patriot. 

The  late  Judge  Charles  P.  Daly  ("  History  of 
Jews  in  North  America/'  page  58)  summarizes 
the  character  of  Haym  Salomon  thus :  "  He  was 
a  man  of  large  private  fortune,  engaged  in  com 
mercial  pursuits,  of  great  financial  resources  and 
ability,  and  of  the  highest  personal  integrity.  He 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Colonies  with  great 
ardor,  and  supplied  the  government  from  his  own 

40 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

means  with  a  large  amount  of  money  at  the  most 
critical  periods  of  the  struggle.  As  appeared 
from  documentary  evidence  afterward  submitted 
to  Congress,  he  advanced  to  the  government  al 
together  $658,007.13,  an  enormous  sum  at  that 
period  for  a  private  individual,  when  all  com 
merce  and  business  were  prostrated. 

"  But  in  addition  to  this  he  supplied  delegates 
to  Congress  and  officers  of  the  army  and  of  the 
government  with  the  means  of  defraying  their 
ordinary  expenses,  among  whom  were  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Lee,  Steuben,  Mifflin,  St.  Clair,  Wilson, 
Monroe,  and  Mercer/* 

After  reciting  Salomon's  unselfish  patriotism  in 
refusing  all  interest  or  recompense,  of  his  capture 
by  the  British,  and  of  his  long  imprisonment  in 
New  York  in  a  jail  called  the  Prevot,  Judge  Daly 
says :  "  He  died  before  he  had  taken  any  steps 
to  secure  a  reimbursement  by  the  government  of 
the  large  amount  he  had  loaned  it,  and  left  a  wife 
and  four  small  children,  to  use  the  language  of 
the  Congressional  report,  '  to  hazard  and  neglect/ 
Applications  have  been  made  to  Congress  by  his 

41 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

heirs  for  the  repayment  of  the  amount  loaned,  or 
at  least  for  some  part  of  it.  These  applications 
led  to  the  most  thorough  searches  in  the  archives 
of  the  government  and  among  the  papers  of 
Robert  Morris,  but  nothing  was  found  showing 
that  any  portion  of  the  amount  had  ever  been  re 
paid.  Madison  in  1827  urged  that  the  memorial 
ists  might  be  indemnified,  and  reports  in  their 
favor  have  frequently  been  made  by  Congressional 
committees,  but  down  to  1864  not  a  dollar  had 
been  repaid  to  them  —  a  fact,  I  regret  to  say, 
which  affords  support  to  the  oft-repeated  observa 
tion  of  the  ingratitude  of  republics." 

Down  to  1905  nothing  has  been  paid  to  the 
heirs  of  Haym  Salomon. 

,  Jared  Sparks  wrote  many  years  ago  that  Salo 
mon's  associations  with  Robert  Morris  "  were 
very  close  and  intimate,  and  that  a  great  part  of 
the  success  that  Mr.  Morris  attained  in  his  finan 
cial  schemes  was  due  to  the  skill  and  ability  of 
Haym  Salomon." 

The  late  Prof.  Herbert  B.  Adams  and  Dr.  Hol 
lander,  both  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  have 
42 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

shown  that  Salomon  was  the  negotiator  of  the 
war  subsidies  obtained  from  France  and  Holland, 
which  he  endorsed  and  sold  in  bills  to  the  mer 
chants  in  America  at  a  credit  of  two  or  three 
months  "  on  his  own  personal  security,"  without 
the  loss  of  a  cent  to  the  country  and  receiving  only 
one  quarter  of  one  per  cent,  and  that  he  was  ap 
pointed  by  the  French  government  paymaster- 
general  of  the  troops  in  America,  which  trust  he 
executed  free  of  charge. 

The  secret  support  of  Charles  III.  of  Spain  is 
alleged  to  have  been  due  partly  to  his  efforts.  He 
maintained  from  his  own  private  purse  Don  Fran 
cisco  Rendon,  the  secret  ambassador  of  that  mon 
arch,  for  nearly  two  years,  or  up  to  the  time  of 
Mr.  Salomon's  death. 

On  the  accession  of  the  Count  de  la  Luzerne 
to  the  embassy  from  France,  Mr.  Salomon  was 
made  the  banker  of  that  government.  A  letter 
from  Count  de  Vergennes,  the  Foreign  Minister, 
to  De  la  Luzerne,  ambassador  to  this  country, 
states  that  in  two  years  150,000,000  livres  were 
disbursed  in  this  country  through  Mr.  Salomon. 

43 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

But  Haym  Salomon  was  not  the  only  Jew,  who 
sacrificed  his  fortune  for  independence,  for  we 
find  that  among  the  signers  of  the  bills  of  credit 
for  the  Continental  Congress,  in  1776,  were  Ben 
jamin  Levy  of  Philadelphia  and  Benjamin  Jacobs 
of  New  York.  Samuel  Lyon  of  New  York  was 
among  the  signers  of  similar  bills  in  1779.  Isaac 
Moses,  of  Philadelphia,  contributed  $15,000  to  the 
Colonial  Treasury,  and  Herman  Levy,  another 
Philadelphian,  repeatedly  advanced  considerable 
sums  for  the  support  of  the  army  in  the  field. 
Manuel  Mordecai  Noah  of  South  Carolina  not 
only  served  in  the  army  as  an  officer  on  Wash 
ington's  staff,  and  likewise  with  General  Marion, 
but  gave  $100,000  to  further  the  cause  in  which 
he  was  enlisted. 

Cyrus  Adler  has  called  attention  to  the  follow 
ing  incident.  His  information  was  based  on  an 
unpublished  letter  of  Jared  Sparks :  "  At  the  out 
break  of  the  Revolutionary  War  a  Mr.  Gomez, 
of  New  York,  proposed  to  a  member  of  the  Con 
tinental  Congress  that  he  form  a  company  of 
soldiers  for  service.  The  member  of  Congress 

44 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

remonstrated  with  Mr.  Gomez  on  the  score  of 
age,  he  then  being  sixty-eight,  to  which  Mr. 
Gomez  replied  that  he  '  could  stop  a  bullet  as  well 
as  a  younger  man/  ' 

Among  the  patriots  of  the  South  none  worked 
more  unselfishly  than  Mordecai  Sheftall,  "  Chair 
man  of  the  Rebel  Parochial  Committee,"  organ 
ized  to  regulate  the  internal  affairs  of  Savannah 
and  composed  of  patriots,  opposed  to  the  royal 
government,  and  who,  after  active  hostilities  were 
begun  in  the  South,  was  appointed  Commissary- 
General  to  the  troops  of  Georgia  in  July,  1777, 
and  soon  thereafter  was  also  appointed  commis 
sary  to  the  Continental  troops;  and  when  the 
British  attacked  Savannah  in  December,  1778, 
She f tail's  name  appears  not  only  foremost  among 
the  patriot  defenders  of  that  city  and  as  one  who 
advanced  considerable  money  to  the  cause,  but  as 
one  who  was  placed  on  board  the  prison  ships  be 
cause  of  his  refusal  to  flock  to  the  royal  standard. 
In  1780,  when  the  British  authorities  passed  the 
disqualifying  act,  we  find  the  name  of  Mordecai 


45 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Sheftall  near  the  head  of  the  list  with  the  most 
prominent  patriot  names  of  Georgia. 

Colonel  Isaac  Franks  became  aide-de-camp  to 
Washington,  holding  the  rank  of  colonel  on  his 
staff,  and  served  with  distinction  throughout  the 
war.  Major  Benjamin  Nones,  a  native  of  Bor 
deaux,  France,  who  came  to  America  in  1777, 
served  on  the  staffs  of  both  Lafayette  and  Wash 
ington.  He  entered  service  under  Pulaski,  as  a 
private ;  and,  as  he  writes,  "  fought  in  almost 
every  action  which  took  place  in  Carolina,  and  in 
the  disastrous  affair  of  Savannah  shared  the  hard 
ships  of  that  sanguinary  day."  He  became  major 
of  a  legion  of  four  hundred  men,  attached  to 
Baron  de  Kalb's  command  and  composed  in  part 
of  Hebrews.  And  when  the  brave  De  Kalb  fell 
mortally  wounded,  Major  Nones,  Captain  Jacob 
de  la  Motta,  and  Captain  Jacob  de  Leon  carried 
their  chief  from  the  field. 

Colonel  David  S.  Franks  of  Montreal  openly 
sympathized  with  and  aided  the  Americans  under 
Generals  Montgomery  and  Arnold  during  their 
invasion  of  Canada,  and  was  forced  to  flee  from 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

Canada  in  1776,  when  the  American  forces  aban 
doned  the  country.  The  name  of  David  S. 
Franks  appeared  on  Governor  Carleton's  list  of 
twenty-nine  prisoners,  sent  to  the  British  min 
istry  early  in  1777,  "being  the  principal  persons 
settled  in  the  province  who  very  zealously  served 
the  rebels  in  the  winter  of  1775-1776,  and  fled 
upon  their  leaving  it."  Franks,  who  left  Canada 
with  the  intention  of  joining  the  American  army, 
although  his  course  in  this  matter  resulted  in 
heavy  pecuniary  losses  in  his  business  affairs  and 
also  alienated  him  from  his  father,  became  aide- 
de-camp  to  Arnold,  the  intrepid,  zealous,  and  able 
soldier  that  he  was,  until  jealousy,  extravagance, 
and  spite  led  him  to  take  up  the  traitor's  role. 
Franks  gave  testimony  to  Mrs.  Arnold's  inno 
cence  of  all  complicity  in  her  husband's  treason. 
Suspicions  were  aroused  against  Franks  on  ac 
count  of  Arnold's  treason ;  nevertheless,  after  a 
searching  inquiry  into  his  conduct,  he  was  not 
only  acquitted,  but  he  was  sent  to  Europe  with 
important  dispatches  to  Jay  and  Franklin,  with 
instructions  to  await  their  orders.  In  a  letter 

47 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

from  Robert  Morris  to  Franklin,  dated  Philadel 
phia,  July  13,  1781,  we  read:  "The  bearer  of 
the  letter,  Major  Franks,  formerly  an  aide-de 
camp  to  General  Arnold,  and  honorably  acquitted 
of  all  connection  with  him  after  a  full  and  im 
partial  inquiry,  will  be  able  to  give  you  our  public 
news  more  particularly  than  I  could  relate  them." 

Philip  Moses  Russell,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  en 
listed  as  a  surgeon's  mate  under  command  of  Gen 
eral  Lee.  After  the  British  occupation  of  Phila 
delphia  in  September,  1777,  he  became  surgeon's 
mate  to  Surgeon  Norman  of  the  Second  Virginia 
Regiment.  Russell  went  into  winter  quarters 
with  the  army  at  Valley  Forge,  1777-1778. 
Sickness  forced  him  to  resign  in  August,  1780. 
He  received  a  letter  of  commendation  from  Gen 
eral  Washington  "  for  his  assiduous  and  faithful 
attentions  to  the  sick  and  wounded." 

Solomon  Bush,  Emanuel  de  la  Motta,  Benja 
min  Ezekiel,  Jason  Sampson,  Colonel  Jacob  de  la 
Motta,  Ascher  Levy,  Nathaniel  Levy,  David  Hays 
and  his  son,  Jacob,  Reuben  Etting,  Jacob  I. 
Cohen,  Major  Lewis  Bush,  Aaron  Benjamin, 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

Joseph  Bloomfield,  Moses  Bloomfield,  Isaac  Israel, 
and  Benjamin  Moses  are  the  names  of  a  few  of 
the  other  Jews  who  distinguished  themselves  upon 
the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution. 

The  commemoration  of  the  first  battle-field  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  was  made  possible 
through  a  Jew.  Upon  learning  that  Amos  Law 
rence  of  Boston  had  pledged  himself  to  give  $10,- 
ooo  to  complete  the  Bunker  Hill  monument,  if 
any  other  person  could  be  found  to  give  a  like 
amount,  Judah  Touro,  of  New  Orleans,  who  came 
to  the  aid  of  Andrew  Jackson  during  the  memora 
ble  defense  of  that  city,  immediately  sent  a  check 
for  the  amount.  In  the  History  of  the  Bunker 
Hill  Monument,  which  was  published  by  George 
Washington  Warren,  appears  the  following 
tribute  to  Judah  Touro :  "  He  was  one  of  that 
smallest  of  all  classes  into  which  mankind  can  be 
divided  —  of  men  who  accumulate  wealth  with 
out  ever  doing  a  wrong,  taking  an  advantage,  or 
making  an  enemy;  who  become  rich  without  be 
ing  avaricious ;  who  deny  themselves  the  comforts 
of  life  that  they  may  acquire  the  means  of  pro- 

49 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

moting  the  comfort  and  elevating  the  condition 
of  their  fellow  men."  At  a  dinner  given  at  Fan- 
euil  Hall  on  June  17,  1843,  t°  celebrate  the  com 
pletion  of  the  monument,  the  two  great  bene 
factors  of  the  association  were  remembered  by 
the  following  toasts : 

"  Amos  and  Judah,  venerated  names, 
Patriarch  and  Prophet  press  their  equal  claims ; 
Like  generous  coursers  running  '  neck  and  neck/ 
Each  aids  the  work  by  giving  it  a  check. 
Christian  and  Jew,  they  carry  out  one  plan, 
For  though  of  different  faiths,  each  is  in  heart  a 
MAN." 

THE  WAR  OF  1812 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  soldiers  in  the 
War  of  1812  was  Brigadier-General  Joseph 
Bloomfield.  Colonel  Nathan  Myers,  Samuel 
Noah,  Captain  Meyer  Moses,  Judah  Touro,  Lieu 
tenants  Isaac  Mertz,  Benjamin  Gratz,  David 
Metzler  and  Adjutant  Isaac  Meyers,  are  a  few  of 
the  Jewish  names  on  the  roll  of  honor  in  our  sec 
ond  war  with  England. 

50 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

THE  MEXICAN  WAR 

At  the  time  of  the  Mexican  War,  in  1846,  the 
Jewish  population  was  perhaps  15,000.  General 
David  de  Leon  twice  took  the  place  of  command 
ing  officers  who  had  been  killed  or  disabled  by 
wounds,  and  twice  received  the  thanks  of  the 
United  States  Congress  for  his  gallantry  and 
ability.  Surgeon-General  Moses  Albert  Levy, 
Colonel  Leon  Dyer,  quartermaster-general  under 
General  Winfield  Scott,  Lieutenant  Henry  Seelig- 
son,  wrho  was  sent  for  by  General  Taylor  and  by 
him  complimented  for  his  conspicuous  bravery  at 
Monterey,  Major  Alfred  Mordecai,  Sergeant 
Jacob  Davis,  Sergeant  Samuel  Henry,  and  Cor 
poral  Jacob  Hirschborn  are  a  few  of  the  sons  of 
Israel  who  left  valuable  evidences  of  their  patriot 
ism  in  the  Mexican  War. 

IN  THE  REGULAR  ARMY  AND  NAVY 

From  the  earliest  period  of  the  republic  to  the 
present  time  the  Jew  has  been  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  our  regular  army  and  navy;  and,  in  every 

51 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

branch  of  the  service,  he  has  made  an  honorable 
record. 

Major  Alfred  Mordecai  is  a  recognized  au 
thority  in  the  military  world,  in  the  field  of 
scientific  research,  and  in  the  practical  applica 
tion  of  mechanical  deduction  to  war  uses.  His 
son  and  namesake  has  been  an  instructor  at  West 
Point  and  is  inspector  of  ordnance,  holding  the 
rank  of  Colonel,  being  attached  to  the  Ordnance 
Office  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

Commodore  Uriah  Phillips  Levy  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  1862,  was  the  highest  ranking  officer 
(flag  officer)  in  our  navy,  and  upon  his  tomb 
stone  at  Cypress  Hills  is  recorded  this  fact,  "  He 
was  the  father  of  the  law  for  the  abolition  of  the 
barbarous  practice  of  corporal  punishment  in  the 
United  States  Navy." 

IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

In  the  Civil  War,  the  -part  the  Jew  took  is  so 
conspicuous  that  it  is  difficult  to  pick  out  the  most 
prominent  men  in  the  conflict.  Mayer  Asch, 
Nathan  D.  Menken,  and  Louis  H.  Mayer  served 

52 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

on  the  staff  of  General  Pope,  Mayer  serving  also 
with  Generals  Rosecrans  and  Grant.  Dr.  Morris 
J.  Asch  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Sheridan. 
Major  Lully,  who  during  the  Hungarian  Revolu 
tion  served  on  Kossuth's  staff,  rendered  valuable 
service  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of 
War.  Captain  Dessauer,  killed  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  and  Newman  Borchard  served  on  the  staff 
of  General  Howard.  Max  Cornheim  and  M. 
Szegley  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Sigel. 

Jewish  staff  officers  in  the  Confederate  army 
and  navy  are  equally  conspicuous,  showing  the 
spirit  of  Hebrew  loyalty  to  conviction.  Hon. 
Simon  Wolf  (to  whom  the  writer  is  indebted  for 
many  of  these  facts,  and  whose  elaborate  volume 
led  him  to  pursue  the  subject  to  the  fullest  extent 
possible)  tells  us  that  North  Carolina  sent  six 
Cohen  brothers,  South  Carolina  five  Moses  broth 
ers;  Georgia  Raphael  Moses  and  his  three  sons; 
while  yet  another  Moses  brother  came  from  Ala 
bama  ;  Arkansas  furnished  three  Cohen  brothers ; 
Virginia  sent  out  three  Levy  brothers ;  Louisiana's 
muster-rolls  also  contain  three  brothers  of  the 

53 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

same  name ;  while  still  another  trio  of  Goldsmiths 
went  forth  from  the  South,  two  from  Georgia  and 
one  from  South  Carolina.  Mississippi  provided 
five  Jonas  brothers,  Edward,  fighting  in  the 
Fiftieth  Illinois  against  his  four  Confederate 
brothers,  one  of  whom  was  Benjamin  F.  Jonas, 
former  United  States  Senator  from  Louisiana. 

On  the  Union  side  New  York  alone  furnished 
1,996  soldiers,  among  them  the  five  Wenk  broth 
ers,  Colonel  Simon  Levy  and  his  three  sons  — • 
Captain  Benjamin  C,  Lieutenant  Alfred,  and 
Captain  Ferdinand,  former  Register  of  New  York 
City.  The  Feder  brothers  also  came  from  New 
York.  From  Ohio,  which  furnished  the  next 
largest  quota,  1,004,  in  the  War  for  the  Union, 
we  have  the  three  Koch  brothers ;  while  Pennsyl 
vania,  which  sent  527  Hebrews,  also  sent  three 
Jewish  brothers  Emanuel.  Thus,  fourteen  Jew 
ish  families  sent  53  men  to  both  armies ;  and  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  Wolf,  7,884  Jewish  soldiers  served 
in  the  Union  and  Confederate  armies  during  the 
Civil  War,  although  there  were  only  150,000 
Jews  in  the  country  at  that  time. 

'54 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

Among  the  Hebrew  officers  in  the  Union  army 
who  achieved  high  distinction  I  may  mention 
Frederick  Knefler,  a  native  of  Hungary,  who  at 
tained  the  highest  rank  reached  by  any  Hebrew 
during  the  Civil  War.  He  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  Seventy-ninth  Indiana  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  fought  his  way  up  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  regi 
ment,  soon  rising  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general, 
and  then  brevet  major-general  for  meritorious 
services  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  He 
fought  gallantly  in  all  the  principal  battles  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  under  Generals  Rose- 
crans,  Thomas,  and  Grant,  and  took  part  in  all 
the  conflicts  of  Sherman's  resistless  march  to  the 
sea. 

Edward  S.  Solomon,  colonel  of  the  Eighty- 
second  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  fought  at 
Chattanooga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Missionary 
Ridge,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  and  through 
out  all  the  campaign  in  the  Southwest,  and  was 
brevetted  brigadier-general.  He  was  for  four 
years  governor  of  Washington  Territory  by  the 
appointment  of  President  Grant. 

55 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Leopold  Blumenberg,  a  Baltimore  merchant,  a 
native  of  Frank fort-on-the-Oder,  decorated  for 
meritorious  service  rendered  the  Prussian  army 
in  the  Prussian-Danish  war  of  1848,  abandoned 
his  business  when  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon, 
and  helped  to  organize  the  Fifth  Regiment,  Mary 
land  Infantry,  of  which  he  was  appointed  major. 
His  regiment  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  An- 
tietam  under  him  as  colonel.  He  was  brevetted 
brigadier-general,  and  died  in  1876,  the  result  of 
the  wound  that  he  had  received  at  Antietam. 

Philip  J.  Joachimsen  organized  the  Fifty- 
ninth  New  York  Volunteer  Regiment,  and 
went  to  the  front  with  it  as  colonel.  A  fall 
from  his  horse  disqualified  him  for  military 
duty.  He  rendered  great  services,  while  stationed 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  as  United  States  paymaster, 
and  for  his  assistance  to  General  B.  F.  Butler  at 
New  Orleans,  Governor  Fenton  of  New  York,  in 
acknowledgment  of  his  eminent  services,  ap 
pointed  him  brevet  brigadier-general. 

Colonel  Marcus  M.  Spiegel,  of  the  One  Hun 
dred  and  Twentieth  Ohio  Infantry,  who  died  be- 

56 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

fore  he  could  receive  the  promotion  to  a  brigadier- 
generalship,  for  which  his  superior  officers  recom 
mended  him  for  bravery  at  Vicksburg  and  Snaggy 
Point ;  Max  Einstein,  colonel  of  the  Twenty-sev 
enth  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania  Volunteers ;  Col 
onel  Max  Freedman,  of  the  Fifth  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Israel  Moses,  of 
Sickels'  Brigade;  Isaac  Moses,  adjutant-general 
of  the  Third  Army  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac;  Colonel  H.  A.  Seligson,  of  Vermont; 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Leopold  C.  Newman,  to  whose 
dying  bed  President  Lincoln  brought  his  commis 
sion  promoting  him  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-gen 
eral;  Colonel  Ansel  Hamberg,  of  the  Twelfth 
Pennsylvania  Infantry;  Abraham  Hart,  brigade 
adjutant-general  of  the  Seventy-third  Pennsyl 
vania  Infantry;  Elias  Leon  Hyneman,  of  the  Fifth 
Pennsylvania  Cavalry;  Captain  Joseph  B.  Green- 
hut,  of  Illinois,  who  owns  the  controlling  interest 
in  the  Siegel-Cooper  Co. ;  Lieutenant  Max  Sachs, 
who  was  killed  at  Bowling  Green;  Adolph  A. 
Meyer,  Inspector-General,  by  special  appoint 
ment  of  President  Lincoln,  transferred  from  New 

57 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Mexico  to  Pennsylvania;  David  Manheim,  col 
onel  First  Nevada  Cavalry ;  Herman  Bendell,  sur 
geon  Eighty-sixth  New  York  Infantry,  brevetted 
lieutenant-colonel  for  meritorious  and  honorable 
conduct;  Adjutant  Abraham  Cohn,  of  New 
Hampshire ;  Captain  A.  Goldman,  of  Maine ;  Ser 
geant  Leopold  Karpelles,  of  Massachusetts;  Ser 
geant  Major  Alexander  M.  Appel,  of  Iowa; 
David  A.  Brauski,  Henry  Heller,  Abraham  Gum- 
wait,  and  Isaac  Gans,  of  Ohio,  are  a  few  of  the 
Jews  who  distinguished  themselves  upon  the  bat 
tle-fields  of  the  War  for  the  Union. 

Major-General  O.  O.  Howard,  after  speaking 
of  one  of  his  Jewish  staff  officers  as  being  "  of  the 
bravest  and  best,"  and  of  another  killed  at  Chan- 
cellorsville  as  being  "  a  true  friend  and  a  brave 
officer,"  and  highly  praising  two  Jewish  brigadier- 
generals,  said :  "  Intrinsically  there  are  no  more 
patriotic  men  to  be  found  in  the  country  than 
those  who  claim  to  be  of  Hebrew  descent  and  who 
served  with  me  in  parallel  command  or  directly 
under  my  instructions." 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

JEWS  AND  THE  AMERICAN  ANTISLAVERY 
MOVEMENT 

In  the  political  movements  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  the  Jews  took  a  leading  part  in  creating 
public  opinion.  As  early  as  1853,  a  fugitive 
negro,  arrested  by  a  United  States  marshal,  was 
liberated  by  a  crowd  of  citizens,  led  by  Michael 
Greenbaum ;  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
a  big  meeting  was  held  to  ratify  that  act.  The 
first  official  call  to  organize  the  abolition  move 
ment  was  signed  by  George  Schneider,  Adolph 
Loeb,  Julius  Rosenthal,  Leopold  Mayer,  and  a 
cigar-dealer,  named  Hanson  —  four  Jews  among 
the  five  leaders  of  the  German  population  of  Chi 
cago  in  a  great  political  movement. 

In  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Tribune 
Michael  Heilprin,  who  had  previous  to  his  coming 
to  America  shown  his  love  of  liberty  as  a  mem 
ber  of  Kossuth's  civil  staff  during  the  Hungarian 
Revolution,  vigorously  exonerated  the  Old  Testa 
ment  from  favoring  slavery.  Dr.  Edward 
Moritz,  of  the  Philadelphia  Demokrat;  Rabbi 

59 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Samuel  M.  Isaacs,  as  preacher  and  editor  of  the 
Jewish  Messenger;  Rabbi  Liebman  Adler,  in  De 
troit  ;  Dr.  Horwitz,  in  Cleveland ;  and  Dr.  Felsen- 
thal,  in  Chicago,  were  sowing  the  seeds  of  liberty. 

Rabbi  Sobato  Morais,  on  account  of  his  anti- 
slavery  sentiments,  was  elected  an  honorary  mem 
ber  of  the  Union  League  Club  of  Philadelphia,  an 
honor  shared  with  Rev.  Dr.  David  Einhorn,  who, 
in  1856,  came  to  pro-slavery  Baltimore  from  Aus 
tria,  where  his  temple  had  been  closed  against 
him  by  the  imperial  government  on  account  of  his 
alleged  revolutionary  utterances.  From  the 
sacred  desk  of  the  Har  Sinai  congregation,  with 
fiery  eloquence,  and  in  his  Sinai,  a  German 
monthly,  in  unanswerable  arguments,  Dr.  Ein 
horn  poured  forth  shot  and  shell  from  the  Old 
Testament  armory  into  the  ranks  of  the  advo 
cates  of  slavery  and  the  time-serving  attitude  of 
the  churches,  until  driven  out  of  the  city  and 
his  return  prohibited  under  martial  law. 

Dr.  Einhorn,  in  Baltimore  and  later  in  Phila 
delphia,  did  as  much  as  any  man  of  his  day  to 
create  the  public  sentiment  which  shivered  that 
60 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

colossal  iniquity.  In  New  York,  Judge  Philip  J. 
Joachimsen,  as  Assistant  United  States  District 
Attorney,  vigorously  prosecuted  certain  slave- 
dealers.  Moritz  Pinner,  on  January  i,  1859,  be 
gan  the  issue  of  an  abolitionist  paper,  the  Kan 
sas  Post,  at  Kansas  City.  As  delegate  to  the 
National  Republican  Convention,  he  with  other 
Jews,  like  Judge  Dittenhoefer  of  New  York, 
worked  earnestly  among  the  Germans  for  the 
nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

The  Jewish  Year  Book  for  1901  has  had  the 
records  of  the  War  Department  searched,  and 
publishes  the  names  of  over  4,000  Jewish  sol 
diers,  who  served  in  the  American  armies  during 
the  war  with  Spain.  The  first  man  to  volunteer 
was  a  Jew,  and  the  first  American  to  be  killed  iri 
battle  was  a  Jew.  So  eager  were  the  Jews 
to  prove  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States  that 
5,000  Jews  of  New  York  offered  their  services  to 
the  Governor,  through  Nathan  Strauss,  and  as  the 
then  chaplain  of  the  Ninth  Regiment,  N.  G.  N.  Y., 
61 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

the  writer  can  testify  to  the  eagerness  with 
which  the  Jews  came  to  enlist  and  demonstrate 
their  patriotism  when  war  was  declared.  A  care 
ful  perusal  of  the  rolls  by  States,  as  published  in 
the  Jewish  Year  Book,  ought  to  be  sufficient  evi 
dence  to  refute  the  assertion  made  by  certain  un 
informed  and  prejudiced  persons  that  the  Jew 
ish  people  were  not  patriotic  Americans.  The 
slur  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  Jew  cannot  hold 
up  its  head  in  the  presence  of  the  records  of  the 
War  Department,  which  ratified  more  than  4,000 
furloughs,  which  were  granted  to  such  soldiers 
as  desired  to  celebrate  Rosh  Hashanah  and  Yom 
Kippur  at  home. 

"  When  war  was  declared,"  Captain  A.  W. 
Murray  says,  "  the  Jewish  press  throughout  the 
country  reminded  their  people  of  the  wanton  per 
secution  of  the  Hebrews  by  Spain,  covering  many 
years.  They  had  been  driven  from  their  country 
and  deprived  of  their  property  by  the  cruel,  un 
just  Spaniards.  The  young  Hebrew  men  did 
not  require  urging.  Their  love  for  America 
alone  was  enough,  and  they  flocked  to  the  stand- 
62 


IN  THE  WARS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

ard  of  liberty,  the  Stars  and  Stripes."  The  first 
man  to  fall  in  the  attack  on  Manila  was  Ser 
geant  Maurice  Justh,  of  the  First  California  Vol 
unteers  (which  regiment  numbered  TOO  Jews). 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  intrepid  leader  of  the 
Rough  Riders,  declared  that  in  that  brave  regi 
ment,  which  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  the  most  astonishing  courage  was  dis 
played  by  the  seven  Jewish  Rough  Riders,  one 
of  whom  became  a  lieutenant. 

The  Astor  Battery  numbered  ten  Jews  among 
their  ninety-nine  men.  Fifteen  Jews  went  down 
to  death  in  the  Maine,  destroyed  in  the  harbor 
of  Havana;  and  there  was  not  an  engagement 
during  the  war  with  Spain,  in  which  Hebrews  did 
not  take  part.  Many  Jewish  names  appear  on 
the  list  of  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  much- 
maligned  Russian  Jews  furnished  more  than 
double  their  share  of  volunteers.  Commander 
Ado'lph  Marix,  of  the  navy,  a  Hebrew,  was  Judg£ 
Advocate  of  the  Maine  Disaster  Board  of  In 
quiry,  and  many  cases  could  be  cited  where 
Americans  of  Hebrew  extraction  performed  gal- 

63 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

lant  and  meritorious  service  under  the  flag  in 
Porto  Rico,  Cuba,  and  in  the  Philippines  —  fight 
ing  as  bravely  as  did  their  fathers  before  them 
at  Leipsic  and  Waterloo;  under  Kossuth  and 
Garibaldi ;  before  Sadowa  and  Sedan ! 


IV 

THE  JEW  IN  AMERICAN 
POLITICS 

PERHAPS  the  first  Jew  elected  to  office  in 
this  country  was  Colonel  Frederick  Phil 
lips,    of    Westchester    County,    who    was 
elected  to  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York. 
On  September  23,   1737,  the  General  Assembly 
resolved  that  Jews  could  neither  vote  for  repre 
sentatives  nor  be  admitted  as  witnesses.     Colonel 
Phillips  was  denied  his  seat. 

JEWISH   CONGRESSMEN 

Israel  Jacobs  was  the  first  Hebrew  member  of 
Congress  from  Pennsylvania,  1791  to  1793. 
David  S.  Kauffman,  after  serving  as  speaker  of 
the  Texas  Assembly,  represented  his  State  in  Con 
gress  from  1847  to  1857.  In  1845,  Lewis  C.  Le- 

65 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

vin  was  sent  to  Congress  from  Philadelphia,  and 
was  twice  re-elected.  Meyer  Strouse  was  Con 
gressman  from  Pennsylvania,  1848  to  1852,  and 
Philip  Phillips  from  Alabama,  1853  to  1855. 
Emanuel  B.  Hart,  of  New  York,  was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1857;  after  serving  his  first  term 
he  was  made  Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  New  York. 
Henry  M.  Phillips,  of  Philadelphia,  in  his  day  one 
of  the  best  constitutional  lawyers  in  this  country, 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1856.  Leonard  Mey 
ers,  of  Philadelphia,  represented  the  Third  Dis 
trict  from  1863  to  1875.  Meyer  Strouse,  of 
Pottsville,  Pennsylvania,  served  in  Congress 
from  1863  to  1867;  Edwin  Einstein,  of  New 
York  City,  from  1879-81.  Isidor  Strauss,  one 
of  New  York's  public-spirited  citizens,  was  sent 
to  Congress  in  1892,  declining  a  re-election. 
Among  other  Jewish  Congressmen  may  be 
named  Leopold  Morse  of  Boston;  Nathan 
Frank  of  St.  Louis ;  Adoph  Meyer  of  Louisiana ; 
Jefferson  M.  Levy,  Mitchell  May,  Montague 
Lessler,  Henry  M.  Goldfogle  and  Lucius  M.  Lit- 
tauer  of  New  York;  Martin  Emerich  of  Illinois; 
66 


IN  AMERICAN  POLITICS 

Julius  Kahn  of  San  Francisco,  and  Isidor  Rayner 
of  Baltimore,  former  Attorney-General  of  Mary 
land  and  counsel  for  Rear-Admiral  Schley, 
whose  three  hours'  speech  at  the  close  of  the  in 
vestigation  made  him  nationally  famous  as  an 
orator,  the  mingled  irony,  invective,  lively  humor 
and  passionate  appeal  recalling  the  fervid  periods 
of  Henry,  Calhoun,  and  Clay. 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

Judah  P.  Benjamin,  who  declined  President 
Pierce's  offer  of  a  judgeship  on  the  Supreme 
Court  Bench  on  account  of  his  extensive  private 
business,  but  who,  in  1852,  was  chosen  United 
States  Senator  from  Louisiana,  was  the  ablest 
legal  advocate  slavery  ever  had.  On  one  occa 
sion,  he  appeared  against  Daniel  Webster  in  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.  Webster  talked 
for  three  hours  and  made  one  of  his  finest  efforts. 
Then  came  Benjamin,  a  little  weazened,  dried-up 
man,  with  a  thin  and  hollow  voice,  and  talked  for 
twenty  minutes,  when  the  Chief  Justice  turned  to 
his  colleagues  and  whispered :  "  Great  heavens ! 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

that  little  man  has  stated  Webster  out  of  court  in 
twenty  minutes." 

On  his  withdrawal  from  the  United  States  Sen 
ate,  on  February  4,  1860,  he  was  at  once  ap 
pointed  Attorney-General  in  the  Provisional  gov 
ernment  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  In  the 
following  August  he  was  appointed  Acting  Secre 
tary  of  War;  subsequently  he  became  Secretary  of 
State,  which  position  he  held  until  the  downfall  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  He  was,  in  truth,  the 
brains  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

When  Richmond  fell,  Benjamin  fled  with  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet.  He  was  separated  from 
them  and  escaped  from  the  East  Coast  of  Florida 
to  the  Bahamas  in  an  open  boat.  From  there  he 
made  his  way  to  Nassau,  reaching  Liverpool  in 
1865.  He  had  little  money.  He  was  fifty-five 
years  old.  He  entered  Lincoln's  Inn  as  a  student, 
having  previously  devoted  himself  to  English  law. 
In  the  following  summer  he  was  called  to  the  bar. 

London  refused  to  notice  him.  He  turned  to 
journalism  to  make  a  living.  His  "  Treatise  on 
the  Law  of  Sale  of  Personal  property  "  is  to-day 
68 


IN  AMERICAN  POLITICS 

the  authority  on  the  subject  in  English  law. 
Then  the  fame  and  practice  of  Benjamin  grew 
rapidly.  He  was  recognized  at  the  time  of  his 
death  as  the  leader  of  the  English  bar,  and  one  of 
the  great  legal  minds  of  the  world.  When  fail 
ing  health  compelled  him  to  retire,  in  1883,  a 
great  banquet  was  given  him  in  the  hall  of  the  In 
ner  Temple  in  London,  where  gathered  all  the 
foremost  men  in  England  —  a  tribute  such  as  few 
men  have  ever  received. 

Other  Jewish  United  States  Senators  have  been 
David  L.  Yulee  of  Florida,  B.  F.  Jonas,  from 
Louisiana,  Joseph  Simon  of  Oregon,  and  at  pres 
ent  Isidor  Rayner  of  Maryland.  Joseph  Selig- 
man  declined,  for  personal  reasons,  the  Secretary 
ship  of  the  Treasury  in  President  Grant's  cabinet, 
and  Isidor  Strauss  declined  the  Postmaster-Gen 
eralship  in  President  Cleveland's  cabinet. 

JEWISH  JUDGES 

The  following  are  some  of  the  Hebrews  who 
have  held  important  judgeships :  Moses  Levy, 
whose  admission  to  the  Bar  of  Philadelphia  dates 

69 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

back  as  far  as  March  19,  1778,  after  occupying 
various  offices  became  Presiding  Judge  of  "  the 
District  Court  for  the  City  and  County  of  Phila 
delphia."  The  first  Jew  to  hold  a  judicial  posi 
tion  in  Philadelphia  was  Isaac  Miranda,  in 
1727.  Mayer  Isaac  Franks  has  been  men 
tioned  as  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Penn 
sylvania,  but  the  exact  time  when  he  served 
cannot  be  determined.  Among  the  most  honored 
Judges  of  Philadelphia  to-day  is  Mayer  Sulz- 
berger. 

Franklin  J.  Moses  (1804-77)  was  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  South  Carolina,  Solomon  Heydenfeldt  was 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California  in 
1851.  Among  the  Supreme  Court  judges  of 
New  York,  we  can  recall  Joseph  E.  Newburger, 
W.  N.  Cohen,  David  Levintrit,  Samuel  Green- 
baum  and  Alfred  Steckler.  Among  the  judges 
of  minor  courts  may  be  mentioned  Simon  M. 
Ehrlich,  Leo  C.  Dessar,  Joseph  H.  Steiner,  Her 
man  Joseph  and  Leon  Sanders. 


70 


IN  AMERICAN  POLITICS 

JEWISH  DIPLOMATS 

During  the  first  decade  of  the  present  century, 
Solomon  B.  Nones  was  Consul-General  to  Portu 
gal.  President  Madison  appointed  Mordecai  M. 
Noah,  Consul-General  to  Tunis.  Colonel  Max 
Einstein  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln, 
Consul  at  Nuremberg,  Germany.  B.  F.  Peixotto 
was  Consul  at  Lyons  during  the  administrations 
of  Presidents  Hayes,  Garfield  and  Arthur.  Mar 
cus  Otterbourg,  of  New  York,  was  the  first  He 
brew  to  occupy  the  high  office  of  Envoy  Extraor 
dinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  Mexico. 
Oscar  Straus  was  President  Cleveland's  and  Pres 
ident  McKinley's  Minister  to  Turkey.  Solomon 
Hirsch  was  President  Harrison's  Minister  to 
Turkey. 

Robert  Etting,  of  Philadelphia,  first  captain  of 
the  Independent  Blues  in  1798,  was  appointed  by 
President  Thomas  Jefferson  United  States  Mar 
shal  for  the  State  of  Maryland  in  1801. 

By    appointment    of    President    Pierce,    Isaac 

•«  ^ 

Phillips  was  made  General  Appraiser  of  the  Port 
71 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

of  New  York,  a  position  which  he  occupied  for 
fifteen  years.  Colonel  Louis  Fleischner  and  Ed 
ward  Hirsch  have  been  State  Treasurers  of  Ore 
gon.  B.  Goldsmith  and  Philip  Wasserman  have 
been  mayor  of  Portland,  Oregon.  Edward  Kan- 
ter  has  been  State  Treasurer  of  Michigan.  Jacob 
H.  Hollander,  of  Johns  Hopkins,  was  Treasurer 
of  Porto  Rico,  and  organized  the  treasury  de 
partment  and  devised  and  introduced  the  present 
revenue  system  of  the  island.  Morris  Cohen,  of 
Arkansas,  whose  "  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 
the  Constitution "  forms  part  of  the  historical 
publications  of  Johns  Hopkins  University ;  Julius 
Fleischman,  who  became  Mayor  of  Cincinnati  at 
28  years  of  age,  and  Herman  Meyers,  who  has 
been  again  and  again  re-elected  Mayor  of  Sa 
vannah;  Simon  Wolf,  appointed  by  President 
Grant  Recorder  of  Deeds  for  the  District  of 
Columbia;  S.  W.  Rosendale,  formerly  Attorney- 
General  of  New  York;  Julius  M.  Mayer,  the 
present  Attorney-General  of  New  York;  Ran 
dolph  Guggenheimer,  Jacob  A.  Cantor,  Nathaniel 
Elsberg,  the  Seligmans,  Theo.  W.  Myers,  Edward 
72 


IN  AMERICAN  POLITICS 

Lauterbach  and  Louis  Marshall,  who  practically 
framed  the  important  charity  and  judiciary  arti 
cles  of  the  New  York  State  Constitutional  Con 
vention  of  1894,  and  Nathan  Straus,  whose  love 
of  humanity  has  made  his  name  a  household  word 
in  New  York,  and  who  declined  the  Democratic 
nomination  for  the  Mayoralty  of  the  metropolis, 
these  are  only  a  few  of  hundreds  of  Jews,  who 
might  be  named  in  every  section  of  our  country, 
whose  courageous  and  persistent  advocacy  of 
righteousness  in  politics  have  made  the  Jew  a 
mighty  power  for  good  in  municipal,  State,  and 
national  life. 


73 


V 

THE  JEW  IN  FINANCE 

IN  finance  the  Jew  has  for  four  hundred  years 
been  the  factor  that  supplied  the  nations  of 
the  earth  with  money.     The  financial  system 
of  the  world,  its  inventions  and  perfection,  we 
owe  to  the  Rothschilds,  who  were  the  first  to  make 
national  loans  popular. 

The  Jew  in  finance  is  invariably  a  creator  and 
not  a  puller-down.  Many  of  the  great  fortunes 
which  have  been  made,  notably  in  America,  have 
been  made  by  wrecking  railroads  and  other  estab 
lished  and  incorporated  industries.  The  Jews, 
with  comparatively  few  exceptions,  made  their 
money  as  manufacturers  and  merchants.  Polia- 
koff,  the  Russian  railway  king;  the  Pereires,  the 
French  railway  kings;  and  the  Rothschilds  are 
among  the  few  exceptions.  Capital  and  Jew  are 

75 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

not  synonymous  terms;  the  leading  spirits  of  the 
antagonistic  forces  —  capital  and  labor  —  are 
Jews.  There  are  financiers  like  the  Rothschilds, 
and  there  are  socialistic  Jews  like  Lassalle,  Marx 
and  Singer.  The  capitalists  cannot  curse  the 
Jews,  and  the  socialists  cannot  dynamite  the  Jews, 
without  abandoning  their  very  leaders.  Samuel 
Gompers,  President  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  with  a  membership  estimated  at  over 
2,000,000,  the  largest  body  of  workingmen  in  the 
United  States,  possibly  in  the  world,  is  a  Jew. 
At  his  instance  have  been  passed  the  eight-hour 
work  day  for  mechanics  and  laborers  in  govern 
ment  service,  the  ten-hour  limit  for  street-railway 
workers,  and  Labor  Day. 

Six  hundred  thousand  Jews  living  in  Africa 
and  Asia  are  poor.  The  five  millions  who  live  in 
the  east  of  Europe  are  only  just  raised  above 
pauperism,  while  a  goodly  proportion  are  sunk 
below  even  that  level.  Among  the  nearly  five 
millions  of  Russian  Jews,  only  a  few  names,  like 
Gunsburg,  Iseman,  Kronenberg,  Posnanski,  Breg- 
man,  Zuckerman,  the  Zabludowskis,  Raffalovitch, 


PJ   o 
.  '^ 

J  Id 


§< 

O 


W  cog 


IN  FINANCE 

Poliakoff,  Ephrussi,  Brodsky,  de  Bloch,  and 
Rothstein  rise  above  the  general  level  of  hard 
working  poverty.  On  the  Continent,  besides  the 
Rothschilds  we  find  not  more  than  twenty  Jewish 
capitalists. 

About  three  years  ago  the  Jewish  World,  of 
New  York,  published  a  list  so  far  as  could  be  as 
certained,  of  the  names  of  those  Jews  who  have 
amassed  fortunes  estimated  above  $1,000,000. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  the  list  may  be  regarded  as 
fairly  summing  up  the  success  reached  by  Jews  in 
the  commercial  struggles  of  the  past  thirty  years 
or  more.  In  all  some  115  Jews  had  reached  the 
million  mark  out  of  about  4,000  millionaires 
throughout  the  States.  The  number  has  increased 
rapidly  within  a  few  years,  and  from  150  to  175 
is  perhaps  more  nearly  the  number  to-day. 

The  Jews  are  about  one-seventy-fifth  of  our 
population,  but  since  the  Jews  do  not  live  in  the 
country,  we  must  take  the  city  and  town  popula 
tion  where  the  Jews  live,  and  of  which  Jews  form 
only  one-thirtieth,  so  that  from  this  viewpoint 
they  are  rather  under  than  abofe  their  due  pro- 

77 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

portion.  From  brewing  to  pork  packing,  from 
realty  to  dry  goods,  from  law  to  liquor,  from 
banking  to  clothing,  from  newspaper  publisher 
to  manufacturer,  from  cotton  to  tobacco,  from 
grocer  to  miner,  these  Jewish  captains  of  industry 
run  through  the  whole  gamut  of  trade  and  com 
merce. 

Among  the  more  than  1,200  millionaires  of 
New  York  there  can  be  found  only  about  60  Jew 
ish  names.  Surely  this  is  a  small  proportion  for 
so  great  a  population  —  750,000  Jews  in  New 
York,  the  world  centre  of  modern  Jewry. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  Jews  in  New  York  City 
have  property  holdings  that  exceed  $870,000,000 
in  the  single  item  of  real  estate.  The  Hebrew 
wholesale  trade  is  rated  at  $950,000,000.  Most 
of  the  big  department  stores  are  controlled  by 
Jewish  capital. 

Originally  the  Jews  were  an  agricultural  peo 
ple  and  their  civil  policy  was  framed  specially  for 
this  state  of  things.  The  sons  of  Shem  built 
their  first  cities  remote  from  the  channels  of  trade, 
while  the  race  of  Ham  and  Japheth  built  upon  the 

78 


IN  FINANCE 

seashore  and  the  banks  of  the  great  rivers.  But 
the  misfortunes  of  persecution  made  traders  of 
them.  Denied  citizenship,  subject  at  any  time  to 
spoliation  and  expulsion,  their  only  possible 
chance  of  living  was  in  traffic,  in  which  they  soon 
became  skilled.  They  naturally  followed  the 
great  channels  of  commerce  the  world  over. 
Gentile  persecution  kept  them  on  the  go,  and  to 
protect  their  property  against  Gentile  thieves  their 
wealth  had  to  be  portable,  and  so  they  frequently 
turned  it  into  jewels,  because  they  could  be  most 
securely  and  most  secretly  kept,  and,  in  case  of 
flight,  most  easily  removed ;  this  accounts  for  their 
prominence  in  the  jewelry  business  from  early 
times,  and  hence,  too,  their  introduction  of  bills 
of  exchange. 

Prevented  in  many  countries  from  holding 
land,  they  had  no  inducement  to  settle  in  the  coun 
try.  Besides,  their  religious  enactments  require 
that  the  sacred  functions  of  public  worship  be  per 
formed  in  the  presence  of  not  less  than  twelve 
males  about  the  age  of  thirteen,  the  minimim 
for  a  congregation;  this  requires  that  at  least 

79 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

forty  souls  shall  dwell  within  accessible  distance. 
This  may  explain  the  fact  that  so  few  Jews  dwell 
in  small  villages.  That  the  Jews  tend  toward 
large  cities  is  not  peculiar  to  them.  It  is  a  con 
stant  feature  of  modern  statistics. 

The  Jew  is  everywhere  pioneering  and  building 
up  States.  Dr.  Kaufman  Kohler  has  truly  said : 
"  Commerce  and  the  diffusion  of  civilization  are 
closely  allied.  Follow  all  the  tides  of  mod 
ern  civilization,  and  wherever  you  see  the  pros 
perous  conditions  of  commerce  you  see  civiliza 
tion  on  the  boom.  Jewish  commerce  centered 
around  the  great  cities  the  world  over,  and  thus 
opened  the  gates  for  Christianity.  The  flourish 
ing  trade  of  the  Jews,  which  made  Spain  the  fo 
cus  of  mediaeval  culture,  furnished  not  only  the 
great  discoverers  with  the  key  to  unlock  the  new 
worlds  with  their  inexhaustible  treasures,  but  ex 
ercised  its  influence  on  entire  Christianity." 
"  Jewish  Commerce,"  says  Lecky  in  his  "  History 
of  Rationalism,"  "  liberated  mankind  from  the 
thraldom  of  the  Church,  giving  the  world  the 


80 


IN  FINANCE 

much-needed  lesson  of  sound  practical  common 


sense." 


The  Jew,  we  are  told,  is  only  a  middleman ;  men 
cannot  eat  their  own  manufactures  as  a  general 
thing — engines,  shovels,  linens  and  woolens,  boots 
and  gloves,  useful  as  they  are  in  their  way,  are 
failures  as  articles  of  diet.  The  merchant  or  even 
the  peddler,  who  takes  these  inedible  things  and 
disposes  of  them  is  as  important  a  cogwheel  in 
the  machinery  of  society  as  the  railroad  which 
takes  the  wheat  or  the  cotton,  the  coal  or  the  iron 
ore,  from  regions  where  it  cannot  be  worked  up 
into  shape,  and  places  them  where  the  manu 
factory  or  the  consumer  awaits  them. 

In  their  dealings  Jews  are  as  honorable  as  other 
men.  At  a  meeting  in  New  York  of  the  Associa 
tion  of  Credit  Men,  at  which  but  a  few  Jews  were 
present,  the  late  Hon.  Wm.  L.  Strong,  former 
mayor  of  the  city,  and  for  many  years  in  the 
wholesale  dry  goods  business,  said :  "  I  have  lost 
less  money  selling  goods  to  men  who  are  not 
worth  anything  than  in  selling  goods  to  wealthy 
concerns.  I  have  a  case  in  mind  of  one  who  began 
81 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

buying  on  credit  of  me  one  case  of  goods.  In  two 
years  his  credit  with  us  amounted  to  $30,000.  He 
was  a  Jew.  In  sixteen  years  he  divided  $250,000 
with  his  partner.  I  am  about  one- fourth  Jew 
myself.  That  is,  I  have  more  faith  in  Jews  pay 
ing  than  I  have  in  Gentiles  doing  so.  We  have 
lost  four  times  with  the  latter  to  one  of  the 
former;  and  of  Jews  who  failed,  ten  have  paid 
100  cents  on  the  dollar  to  one  of  the  Gentiles." 
This  was  not  said  at  a  gathering  of  Jews,  but 
given  as  a  fact  of  value  to  be  borne  in  mind  by 
credit  men  in  arriving  at  decisions. 

The  inordinate  love  of  gold  is  the  sin  of  our 
day,  and  one  of  the  grave  perils  of  our  civiliza 
tion.  The  jingle  of  coin  is  the  snare  of  all  re 
ligious  creeds  and  races  alike.  If  we  loved  God 
as  we  love  gold,  we  should  soon  be  lifted  into 
angelhood.  The  almost  frenzied  strife  to  get 
money  is  never  ceasing,  and  to  obtain  it  many  a 
Christian  imperils  alike  his  body  and  his  soul ;  and 
no  matter  how  despicable  the  man  may  be,  if  he 
gets  money,  by  hook  or  by  crook,  and  either  of 
them  is  far  from  being  straight,  he  will  be 
82 


IN  FINANCE 

idolized,  though  mentally  deficient,  vulgar  in  per 
son,  ugly  in  features,  and  coarse  in  language. 
Let  us  remember  this  truth  when  we  sit  in  judg 
ment  upon  the  Jewish  people. 

The  love  of  money  is  the  curse  of  Jew  and 
Gentile  alike.  Is  not  the  Christian  to  blame  for 
the  money-lending  characteristics  of  the  Jew? 
Did  not  the  Christian  drive  him  from  all  other 
branches  of  trade  with  a  price  on  his  head,  and 
place  his  home  at  the  mercy  of  others?  Is  it 
right  now  to  insult  his  race  and  religion,  because 
of  that  fact,  in  sneeringly  calling  him  a  Jew? 
You  can  throw  a  stone  into  any  of  our  Christian 
churches  and  hit  a  Shylock.  The  Jew  knows  how 
to  deal  in  money,  but  the  Christian  gave  him  the 
points  in  the  game  of  usury. 

Yes,  Jews  love  money,  and  so  do  Christians. 
Look  at  our  American  Congress  and  our  State 
Legislatures  and  tell  me  if  those  who  sell  their 
votes  to  the  corporations  for  class  legislation  are 
Jews.  Are  all  who  have  monopolized  the  lands, 
watered  the  railroad  stocks,  looted  life  insurance 
companies,  and  cornered  the  homes,  are  they  all 

83 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Jews  ?  \Yho  owns  the  mortgage  on  your  house  ? 
Nine  times  out  of  ten  it  is  a  Christian.  Ask  him 
to  be  lenient  with  you  and  he  will  demand  his 
pound  of  flesh,  and  go  old  Shylock  one  better  by 
sucking  the  blood  along  with  it.* 

Among  Jews  as  among  Christians,  there  are 
those  who  think  more  of  the  man  with  bonds  in 
his  pockets  than  of  the  bonds  on  his  feet  and 
hands.  Among  Jews  and  Christians  alike  you 
find  vulgar,  loud-mouthed,  money-inflated,  of 
fensive  snobs  who  fill  you  with  insufferable  dis 
gust. 

*  The  only  historical  foundation  for  the  pound  of  flesh  story  re 
verses  the  position  of  the  Tew  and  Christian.  In  his  life  of  Pope 
Sixtus  V.,  Gregoris  Letti,  the  biographer,  records  the  following  epi 
sode:  In  1587,  Paul  Mario  Secchi,  a  merchant  of  Rome,  gained  the 
information  that  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the  English  admiral,  had  con 
quered  San  Domingo.  He  communicated  this  piece  of  news  to 
Samson  Cenado,  a  Jewish  merchant,  to  whom  it  appeared  incredible, 
and  he  said:  "I  bet  a  pound  of  flesh  that  it  is  untrue."  (An 
ancient  expression  in  Italy,  used  with  no  intention  of  literally 
forfeiting  a  pound  of  flesh.)  "  And  I  lay  one  thousand  scudi 
against  it,"  replied  Secchi.  A  bond  was  drawn  up.  The  Jew  lost 
and  the  Christian  insisted  on  the  literal  fulfilment  of  the  bond. 
In  his  extremity  the  Jew  went  to  the  governor,  the  governor  com 
municated  the  case  to  the  Pope,  who  condemned  both  to  the  galleys 
—  the  one  for  making  the  wager  and  the  other  for  accepting  it. 
They  released  themselves  from  imprisonment  by  paying  a  fine 
toward  the  hospital  of  the  Sixtus  Bridge,  which  the  Pope  was  then 
rebuilding. 


84 


2.  c 

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VI 

JEWS  IN  THE  ARTS 
AND  SCIENCES 

WHEN  we  turn  to  the  arts  and  sciences  we 
find  that  the  Jews  in  America  are 
nothing  like  as  conspicuous  as  the  Jews 
in  Europe,  due  mainly  to  their  more  recent  ef 
forts  along  these  lines.  We  cannot  boast  such  a 
poet  as  Heine,  a  soldier  in  the  intellectual 
war  of  liberation  which  has  freed  Euro 
pean  thought  from  its  mediaeval  shackles,  and 
whom  Matthew  Arnold,  the  English  critic,  went 
so  far  as  to  term  "  the  most  important  Ger 
man  successor  and  continuator  of  Goethe  in 
Goethe's  most  important  line  of  activity" ;  nor 
can  we  lay  claim  to  such  novelists  as  Auerbach, 
Benjamin  Disraeli,  Nordau  and  Zangwill;  such 

85 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

dramatists  as  Halevy  and  D'Ennery;  such  actors 
as  Sonnenthal  and  Possart,  or  actresses  as  Rachel 
and  Sara  Bernhardt;  or  such  singers  as  Paul 
ine  Lucca  and  Caroline  Gompertz-Bettleheim ; 
or  such  litterateurs  of  essayist  type  as  Lud- 
wig  Borne,  Karl  Blind  and  Grace  Aguilar;  or 
such  literary  critics  as  Isaac  Disraeli  and  George 
Brandes ;  or  such  musical  geniuses  as  Mendels 
sohn,  Halevy,  Offenbach,  Goldmark  and  the 
Strausses ;  or  such  great  performers  as  Rubinstein 
on  the  piano,  or  Joachim  on  the  violin. 

Among  America's  numerous  writers  of  verse 
may  be  named  first  of  all  Emma  Lazarus,  Peni- 
nah  Moise,  Miriam  Del  Banco,  Nina  Morais- 
Cohen,  Cora  Wilburn,  Dr.  S.  Solis-Cohen,  Mary 
Cohen,  Rebekah  Hyneman,  Felix  N.  Gerson,  Mil 
ton  Goldsmith,  and  Morris  Rosenfeld,  the  Ghetto 
poet. 

Next  to  poetry  the  highest  form  of  literary  art 
is  the  novel.  In  this  branch  occur  many  names, 
among  others,  Leo  C.  Dessar,  Herman  Bernstein, 
Ezra  S.  Brudno,  Alfred  J.  Cohen,  the  dramatic 
critic,  better  known  under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
86 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

Alan  Dale,  and  Mrs.  Annie  Nathan  Meyer,  one 
of  the  founders  of  Barnard  College  —  the  first 
women's  college  in  New  York  City. 

Jewish  dramatists  may  follow  Jewish  novelists. 
Among  the  earliest  and  most  prominent  American 
dramatists  was  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  and  his  first 
play  enacted  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was 
"  Paul  and  Elexis,  or  The  Orphans  of  the  Rhine." 
Its  name  was  changed  to  "The  Wandering  Boys," 
and  in  1820  brought  out  at  the  Park  Theatre  in 
New  York  with  great  success,  and  remained  for 
years  one  of  the  popular  attractions  on  the  stage. 
His  other  plays  were  "  She  Would  Be  a  Soldier, 
or  The  Plains  of  Chippewa,"  "  Marion,  or  the 
Hero  of  Lake  George,"  "  The  Grecian  Captive," 
etc. 

Samuel  B.  Judah,  born  in  New  York  in 
1799,  was  another  celebrated  dramatist.  In  1838 
Jonas  B.  Phillips  produced  a  melodrama  called 
"  Cold  Stricken."  H.  B.  Sommer  attained  dis 
tinction  as  the  author  of  "  Our  Show,"  and  "  Help 
Wanted."  David  Belasco,  Sydney  Rosenfeld, 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

and  Martha  Morton  are  among  our  most  versatile 
dramatists  to-day. 

The  introduction  of  opera  into  the  United 
States  was  due  largely  to  Jewish  instrumentality. 
Among  famous  actors  we  may  name  Samuel 
Bernard,  David  Warfield,  Louis  Mann,  Joseph 
Weber,  Lewis  Maurice  Fields,  Joseph  P.  Adler, 
and  Herman,  the  prestidigitateur.  Among 
actresses,  Bertha  Kalische,  Clara  Lipman  (Mrs. 
Louis  Mann),  Anna  Held,  Minnie  Seligman,  and 
Victoria  Maud  Peixotto  (Victoria  Addison). 

Among  the  great  musical  conductors  may  be 
named  Sam  Franko,  Alfred  Hertz  and  Dr.  Leo 
pold  Damrosch,  one  of  the  great  conductors  of 
modern  times,  whose  crowning  achievement  was 
his  successful  establishment  of  German  Opera  in 
New  York.  His  son,  Walter  Damrosch,  is  con 
tributing  more  than  any  other  American  to-day 
to  the  cultivation  of  good  music. 

Klaw,  Erlanger,  Nixon,  Hammerstein,  Schu 
bert  and  the  Frohmans  practically  control  the 
theatres  of  the  United  States. 

From  the  drama  we  may  turn  to  the  press. 
88 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

Many  of  the  dailies  are  either  owned  or  edited  by 
Jews,  as  for  instance,  Joseph  Pulitzer,  "  The 
World/'  New  York;  Adolph  S.  Ochs  and  George 
W.  Ochs,  "  The  Times,"  New  York,  and  "  Public 
Ledger,"  Philadelphia;  M.  H.  De  Young, 
"  Chronicle/'  San  Francisco ;  Edward  Rosewater 
and  his  son  Victor,  Omaha  "Bee";  Fabian 
Franklin,  the  "  News,"  Baltimore,  and  William 
Frisch,  the  Baltimore  "  American." 

As  painters  the  Jews  have  just  begun  to  achieve 
distinction.  Henry  Mosler,  who  has  won  honors 
innumerable  at  home  and  abroad,  must  be  named 
first.  His  "  The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  "  was  the 
first  work  of  an  American  artist  produced  for  the 
Luxembourg  Gallery.  Max  Rosenthal  and  his 
son  Albert  have  become  known  to  fame  as  etchers 
and  portrait  painters  of  high  rank.  Of  illustra 
tors  none  is  better  known  than  Louis  Loeb. 
George  D.  M.  Peixotto,  deserves  mention  because 
of  his  excellent  portraits  of  William  McKinley, 
John  Hay  and  Moses  Montefiore.  Ben  Aus 
trian's  fame  was  secured  by  "  A  Day's  Hunt,"  an 
exquisite  game  piece,  which  sold  for  $2,500,  the 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

largest  sum  ever  paid  for  a  still-life  painting  in 
America.  His  "A  Golden  Harvest/'  a  painting 
of  seed-corn  against  a  weather-stained  old  barn 
upon  which  it  hangs,  is  natural  enough  to  make 
a  farmer  lift  his  hat  and  wipe  his  eyes. 

Among  sculptors  Moses  J.  Ezekiel  stands  sec 
ond  to  none.  His  works  have  been  exhibited  in 
all  art  centres  of  Europe.  His  work,  "  Re 
ligious  Liberty,"  at  Fairmount  Park,  Philadel 
phia,  is  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  of  his  numer 
ous  productions,  and  was  the  first  public  monu 
ment  erected  by  Jews  in  the  United  States. 
Charles  H.  Israels,  Leopold  Eidlitz,  Dankmar 
Adler  and  Arnold  W.  Brunner  are  splendid  rep 
resentatives  of  the  genius  of  their  race  as  archi 
tects.  Mendez  Cohen,  a  pioneer  railroad  builder, 
ranks  as  one  of  the  most  scholarly  and  skillful 
civil  engineers  in  the  country.  Alfred  R.  Wolf 
is  a  recognized  authority  in  his  specialty  of  steam 
engineering.  Clemens  Herschel  is  a  recognized 
authority  on  hydraulic  engineering. 

Among  the  many  Jews  holding  conspicuous 
professorships  in  great  colleges  are:  Maurice 
90 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

Bloomfield  and  Jacob  H.  Hollander,  of  Johns 
Hopkins;  E.  R.  A.  Seligman,  Adolphe  Cohn  and 
Richard  Gottheil,  Columbia;  Charles  Gross,  Har 
vard;  Morris  Jastrow,  University  of  Pennsyl 
vania;  Jacques  Loeb  and  Max  L.  Margolis,  Uni 
versity  of  California;  Isidor  Loeb,  University  of 
Minnesota;  Joseph  Jastrow,  University  of  Wis 
consin;  Max  Winkler,  University  of  Michigan; 
Adolph  Werner,  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  Abram  S.  Isaacs,  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  Among  the  Jews  belonging 
to  the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Chicago  may 
be  named  Professor  Michaelson,  head  of  the  de 
partment  of  physics,  Julius  Stieglitz,  chemistry, 
Ernest  Freund,  jurisprudence,  Julius  M.  Mack, 
professor  of  law,  S.  H.  Clark,  elocution,  and  Emil 
G.  Hirsch,  rabbinical  literature  and  philology. 
The  professorships  filled  by  Jews  show  that  they 
have  a  peculiar  aptitude  for  the  highest  political 
sciences,  and  an  innate  talent  for  languages. 
Their  dispersion  among  all  nations  no  doubt  con 
tributed  to  this.  The  Jews  are  the  founders  of 
our  scientific  philology.  Among  the  leaders  in 

91 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

university  circles  of  a  few  decades  previous  were 
Adler,  of  German  dictionary  fame,  Nordheimer, 
the  Orientalist,  and  Newman,  the  Hebraist. 

Felix  Adler,  aside  from  his  professorship  in 
Columbia,  and  lecturer  of  the  Ethical  Society, 
has  in  active  operation  so  many  practical  edu 
cational  and  philanthropic  enterprises  as  to 
make  him  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in 
New  York.  Dr.  Cyrus  Adler  is  regarded  as  an 
authority  on  Oriental  history  and  archaeology. 

Emil  Berliner  invented  the  telephone  transmit 
ter.  Dr.  Koller  discovered  the  use  of  cocaine. 

As  physicians  the  Jews  have  always  held  pe 
culiarly  high  positions.  In  every  specialty  they 
are  so  numerous  and  so  eminently  successful  that 
to  publish  any  names  at  all  would  be  an  invidious 
distinction. 

Medicine  of  all  callings  is  one  in  which 
the  Jews  have  been  least  interrupted.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  they  were  sought  for  all  over  the 
world,  so  that  even  Popes  who  issued  bulls  against 
them  and  interdicted  the  practice  of  medicine, 
would  only  intrust  their  bodies  to  the  care  of  Jew- 
92 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

ish  physicians,  while  there  was  hardly  a  king  or 
a  queen  in  all  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages  but 
employed  a  Jewish  physician. 

As  advocates,  jurists  and  writers  the  Jewish 
lawyers  are  acknowledged  by  their  Christian 
brethren  as  their  close  competitors.  And  yet  not 
many  years  ago  in  New  York  an  estimable  and 
accomplished  gentleman  was  rejected  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Bar  Association  "  for  no  other  reason 
that  can  be  conceived,"  indignantly  said  one  of 
the  leading  members,  "  except  that  he  was  a 
Jew/' 

That  old  and  at  one  time  almost  universal 
prejudice  represented  by  those  few  hostile  votes 
has  rapidly  given  away  to  the  enlightened  feeling 
that  a  man  who  is  an  honorable  member  of  the 
Bar  should  receive  the  same  recognition  which  is 
accorded  to  his  Gentile  brethren,  and  his  honor 
and  ability,  regardless  of  his  race  or  creed,  should 
make  him  a  fit  member  of  the  association. 


93 


VII 

THE  NUMBER  OF  JEWS  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES 

THE  total  Jewish  immigration  to  the  United 
States,  through  the  ports  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  from  1881  to 
July  i,  1904,  was  827,424.     This  does  not  take 
into  account  immigration  through  Canada  or  at 
ports  other  than   those  mentioned  above.     The 
immigration    at    the    same   port    from    July    i, 
1903,  to  June  30,  1904,  was  92,801. 

At  the  time  of  the  revolution  the  Jewish  pop 
ulation  of  the  United  States  was  about  700 
families.  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  in  1818,  esti 
mated  the  Jewish  population  of  the  United 
States  as  3,000;  after  the  revolution  many  re 
turned  to  England,  others  went  to  the  West 

95 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Indies.  Isaac  Harby,  in  1826,  estimated  that 
there  were  not  over  6,000  Jews  in  the  United 
States.  The  "  American  Almanac  "  in  1840  gives 
the  number  as  15,000,  while  M.  A.  Berk  in  his 
"  History  of  the  Jews/'  published  in  1848,  puts 
down  50,000  as  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  United 
States,  12,000  residing  in  New  York  and  4,000 
in  Philadelphia. 

Throughout  the  period  of  the  Napoleonic  wars, 
many  obstacles  hindered  the  departure  of  the  Ger 
man  Jews,  and  for  a  time  afterward,  in  view  of 
the  great  political  concessions  which  they  gained 
from  the  German  rulers  in  return  for  their  valor 
and  heroic  sacrifices  of  life  and  substance  for  the 
Fatherland,  there  was  little  immigration.  It  was 
not  until  the  beginning  of  steam  navigation  on  the 
Atlantic  that  any  considerable  Jewish  immigra 
tion  was  made  to  this  country.  At  the  time  of 
the  Civil  War  there  were  about  150,000  Jews  in 
the  United  States.  In  September,  1880,  the 
Union  of  Hebrew  Congregations  published  221,- 
064  as  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  United  States. 


NUMBER  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Isaac    Markens,    in    1888,    put    the    number    at 
400,000. 

In  1897,  according  to  the  estimate  of  David 
Sulzberger,  our  Jewish  population  was  937,800, 
while  the  American  Jewish  Year  Book  for  1905 
gives  1,253,213  as  the  number,  distributed  as  fol 
lows  : 

Alabama 7,000 

Arizona 2,000 

Arkansas 3,085 

California 28,000 

Colorado 5,8oo 

Connecticut 5,5oo 

Dakota,  North  and  South  .     .  3,500 

Delaware 928 

District  of  Columbia.     .     .     .  3,500 

Florida 3,ooo 

Georgia 7,000 

Hawaiian    Islands     ....  100 

Idaho 300 

Illinois 100,000 

Indiana 25,000 

Iowa 5,000 

Kansas 3,ooo 

Kentucky 12,000 

Louisiana         12,000 

Maine 5,ooo 

Maryland 26,500 

Massachusetts 60,000 

Michigan 9,000 

97 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Minnesota 10,000 

Mississippi 3,ooo 

Missouri 50,000 

Montana 2,500 

Nebraska 3,ooo 

Nevada 300 

New  Hampshire 1,000 

New  Jersey 25,000 

New  Mexico 1,500 

New    York *6oo,ooo 

North  Carolina 6,000 

Ohio 50,000 

Oklahoma 1,000 

Oregon 5,5OO 

Pennsylvania 95,ooo 

Porto  Rico 100 

Rhode  Island 3,500 

South  Carolina 2,500 

Tennessee 10,000 

Texas 15,000 

Utah 5,ooo 

Vermont 700 

•Virginia 15,000 

Washington 2,800 

West  Virginia 1,500 

Wisconsin I5>°°° 

Wyoming 1,000 

*  New  York  City  has  to-day  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  Jews, 
and  is  the  largest  Jewish  settlement  in  the  world,  having  more 
Jews  than  the  German  empire,  two  and  a  half  times  as  many  as 
Great  Britain,  seven  times  as  many  as  London,  eight  times  as  many 
as  all  France.  The  proportion  of  Jews  in  the  city's  inhabitants  on 
Manhattan  Island  is  one  in  four.  The  Jewish  rate  of  increase  is 
several  times  that  of  other  inhabitants  of  the  city,  so  that  it  is  easy 
to  fix  the  time  at  which  the  Jews  will  be  in  the  majority. 


98 


NUMBER  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

NUMBER  OF  JEWS  THE  WORLD  OVER 
Austria-Hungary   has    2,076,378   Jews;    Ger 
many  586,948,  of  whom  392,322  live  in  Prussia. 
In  the  British  Empire  there  are  286,498,   dis 
tributed  as  follows : 

England  and  Wales  ....  176,000 

Scotland 8,200 

Ireland 3,898 

Australasia 16,850 

Canada   &   British    Columbia.  25,000 

Barbadoes 21 

Trinidad 31 

Jamaica 2,400 

India 18,228 

South   Africa 30,000 

Gibraltar 2,000 

Malta 173 

Aden 3,800 

Cyprus 119 

Hong   Kong 143 

Straits  Settlements  ....  535 

Holland  has  103,988  Jews,  one-half  of  whom 
are  to  be  found  in  Amsterdam;  France,  91,000, 
of  whom  three- fourths  live  in  Paris ;  Italy,  35,617, 
of  whom  the  majority  inhabit  the  northern  and 
middle  portions  of  the  country.  There  are 

99 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

12,264  Jews  in  Switzerland;  in  Belgium,  12,000; 
Denmark,  3,476;  Sweden  and  Norway,  3,402; 
Luxemburg,  1,201;  Spain,  402;  and  in  Portugal 
hardly  any,  where  prior  to  the  fifteenth  century 
there  lived  over  half  a  million  Jews. 

In  Eastern  Europe,  in  addition  to  Roumania, 
with  262,348,  there  are  Turkey  with  466,362; 
Greece,  5,792,  most  of  them  in  Corfu;  Bulgaria, 
33,717;  Servia,  6,000.  In  Asia,  the  cradle  of 
their  race,  we  find  in  Turkey  466,361 ;  Persia  35,- 
ooo;  Russia,  5,189,401,  more  Jews  than  all  the 
rest  of  Europe  together,  so  that  half  of  the  de 
scendants  of  Abraham  are  still  subject  to  special 
laws  and  denied  the  rights  of  citizenship;  Turk 
estan  and  Afghanistan,  14,000,  and  China,  300. 

In  Africa,  where  they  had  colonized  before  the 
Christian  era,  we  find  in  Egypt,  25,200;  Abys 
sinia  (Falashas),  120,000;  Tunis,  60,000;  Al 
geria,  57J32;  Morocco,  150,000. 

In  other  countries  we  find  in  the  Argentine  Re 
public,  22,500;  Costa  Rica,  43;  Bosnia,  Herze 
govina,  8,213;  Mexico,  1,000;  Curacao,  103; 
Peru,  98;  Crete,  150;  and  Venezuela,  411.  In 

100 


NUMBER  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Jerusalem  there  are  about  25,000  Jews;  and  while 
we  hope  for  the  day  when  the  holy  land  will  be  re 
stored  to  the  Jew,  we  cannot  believe  that  Zion 
ism  is  the  ultimate  exaltation  of  the  Jew.  The 
whole  of  Palestine  could  not  sustain  the  Jewish 
population  of  the  world,  about  11,000,000,  for  it 
is  no  bigger  than  Wales.  Palestine  has  very  little 
to  commend  it  to  the  Jew  except  its  Biblical  asso 
ciations.  America,  and  not  Palestine,  is  becom 
ing  the  Jewish  Mecca.  America  is  the  Zion  from 
which  will  go  forth  the  law.  Here  is  liberty  en 
lightening  the  world. 


101 


VIII 

CHARACTERISTICS 
OF  THE  JEW 

FIRST — LONGEVITY 

QUAKERS,  who,  in  the  simplicity  of  their 
ordinary  life,  may  be  supposed  to  conform 
more  closely  to  religious  precepts  than 
most  religious  bodies,  are  the  longest  lived  peo 
ple  of  whom  we  have  record.  Next  to  them 
come  the  Jews.  Reliable  statistics  justify  the  con 
clusion  of  the  learned  French  physician,  Dr.  M. 
Levy,  that  while  the  average  term  of  life  among 
the  Gentiles  is  twenty-six  years,  among  the  Jews 
it  is  thirty-seven.  The  life  insurance  companies 
who  have  made  the  science  of  statistics  a  profes 
sion  as  the  basis  of  commercial  computation,  will 
tell  you  that  the  life  of  the  average  Jew  is  more 

103 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

than  forty  per  cent  more  valuable  than  that  of 
any  other  people,  except  Quakers  and  preachers. 

A  writer  in  the  Western  Medical  Review  de 
clares  that  in  spite  of  the  social  conditions  which 
surround  the  mass  of  the  Hebrew  population 
of  the  world,  and  especially  in  the  large  cities  of 
America,  where  they  form  a  large  percentage  of 
the  population,  the  death  rate  among  the  Jewish 
inhabitants  is  but  little  over  half  of  that  of  the 
average  American  population.  Professor  Wil 
liam  Z.  Ripley,  in  his  papers  on  the  racial  geog 
raphy  of  Europe  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
discusses  this  question  very  fully.  He  states  that 
if  two  groups  of  100  infants  each,  one  Jewish  and 
one  of  average  American  parentage,  be  born  upon 
the  same  day,  one-half  the  Jews  will  not  succumb 
to  disease  before  the  expiration  of  seventy-one 
years. 

According  to  Lombroso,  of  1,000  Jews  born, 
217  die  before  the  age  of  seven  years,  while  453 
Christians,  more  than  twice  as  many,  are  likely 
to  die  within  the  same  period.  In  London,  ac 
cording  to  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Behrend,  con- 
104 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

sumption  is  less  frequent  among  the  Jews  in  the 
most  squalid  dens  of  Whitechapel  than  among  the 
Christians. 

Alcoholism  is  very  rare  among  Jews.  Dur 
ing  the  six  years  ending  May  3ist,  1890,  al 
coholism  caused  in  each  100,000  persons  of  each 
race  in  New  York,  31  deaths  annually  among  the 
Irish,  10  among  the  Germans,  9  among  the 
Americans,  6  among  the  negroes,  3  among 
the  Italians  and  only  i  among  the  Jews  ( Russian 
and  Polish). 

In  1348,  when  the  black  death  was  raging 
throughout  Europe,  the  Jews  were  exempt  from 
the  plague,  and  were  accused  of  poisoning  the 
wells  of  Christians,  and  under  inhuman  tortures 
the  Jews  were  forced  to  confess  themselves  guilty 
of  the  crimes  charged  against  them,  and  then 
were  burned  alive  by  the  thousands. 

Why  are  the  Jews  so  much  less  subject  to  con 
sumption,  cholera,  croup,  typhus,  and  scrofula? 
Since  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  kill  a  dozen 
hogs  before  a  sound  pair  of  lungs  can  be  found,  it 
does  not  seem  strange  that  consumption  is  so 

105 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

prevalent  among  the  eaters  of  swine.  Close  in 
vestigations  have  disclosed  the  fact  that  nearly 
one-half  the  animals  killed  are  not  kosher,  or  fit 
to  be  eaten.  Our  way  of  killing  meat  is,  through 
its  proneness  to  become  tuberculous,  perhaps  the 
cause  of  more  disease  than  all  other  agencies  com 
bined. 

SECOND  —  A  LAW-ABIDING  PEOPLE 

Thirty  to  forty  years  ago  the  prisons  hardly 
knew  of  the  existence  of  the  Jew.  Testimonials 
from  that  period  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely. 
Governor  Vance  of  North  Carolina,  when  pardon 
ing  the  only  Hebrew  in  the  North  Carolina  peni 
tentiary  who  was  serving  a  ten  years'  sentence  for 
manslaughter,  indorsed  on  the  document  these 
words :  "  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  I  sign 
the  pardon  in  part  as  recognition  of  the  good  and 
law-abiding  character  of  our  Jewish  citizens,  this 
being  the  first  serious  case  brought  to  my  notice 
on  the  part  of  that  people." 

About  twenty-five  years  ago  Judge  Briggs,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  sentencing  a  Jew  to  prison  for 
1 06 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

burglary  said :  "  You  are  the  first  Israelite  I 
have  ever  seen  convicted  of  crime.''  No  Jew 
was  convicted  of  murder  in  the  United 
States  during  the  first  century  of  the  Nation's  ex 
istence.  In  a  speech  delivered  at  a  Hebrew  fair 
in  Boston,  General  B.  F.  Butler  said :  "  For  forty 
years,  save  one,  I  have  been  conversant  with  the 
criminal  courts  of  Massachusetts  and -many  other 
States,  and  I  have  never  yet  had  a  Hebrew  client 
as  a  criminal.  But,  you  may  say,  that  was  be 
cause  the  Hebrews  did  not  choose  you  for  their 
lawyer.  But  this  is  not  the  true  answer;  for  I 
never  yet  saw  a  veritable  Israelite  in  the  prison 
er's  box,  for  crime,  in  my  life.  And,  thinking  of 
the  matter  as  I  was  coming  here,  I  met  a  learned 
Judge  in  one  of  the  highest  courts  of  the  com 
monwealth,  of  more  than  forty  years'  experience 
at  the  bar  and  bench,  and  I  put  the  same  ques 
tion  to  him,  and  he  bore  witness  with  me  to  the 
same  effect.  He  neither  at  the  bar  nor  on  the 
bench  had  ever  seen  any  Hebrew  arraigned  for 
crime;"  and  while  no  race  has  a  monopoly  of 
virtue  or  of  vice,  the  Jews  to-day,  notwithstanding 
107 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

the  tremendous  immigration  in  recent  years,  have 
the  best  record  of  any  race  or  religion  in  America. 
Not  more  than  three  or  four  Jews  have  been 
hanged  in  America,  although  I  have  known  several 
whom  a  little  hanging  might  improve.  When 
Mordecai  M.  Noah  on  his  accession  to  the  office 
of  Sheriff  of  New  York,  was  taunted  with  the 
remark,  "  Pity  Christians  have  to  be  hanged  by  a 
Jew !  "  he  replied,  "  Pity  Christians  require  hang 
ing  at  all!" 

The  late  M.  de  Bloch  published  a  series  of  sta 
tistics  on  the  Jews  in  Russia  —  5,000,000  people 
scattered  among  ignorant,  fanatical  and  demor 
alized  moujiks  (peasants)  who  rob  and  plunder 
at  their  will.  The  schools  are  closed  against  the 
Jews,  lucrative  professions  are  forbidden  them, 
and  they  are  huddled  together  in  the  least  produc 
tive  provinces  of  the  Tsar's  realm,  their  only 
means  of  subsistence  trading  with  the  ignorant 
masses;  yet  as  de  Bloch  shows,  there  is  only  one 
Jewish  criminal  to  every  2,170  individuals, 
whereas  among  non-Jews  the  proportion  is  one  to 
every  715.  In  the  Pale  the  arrears  of  taxes  are 
1 08 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

less  than  in  governments  which  are  free  from  Jews, 
and  in  the  twenty-five  governments  of  the  Pale 
every  year  eight  million  roubles  less  are  spent  in 
drink,  a  saving  which  enables  the  peasants  to  im 
prove  their  land  and  pay  their  taxes.  In  regard 
to  trade,  Jews  are  mostly  engaged  in  petty  com 
merce.  The  Jews  in  the  Pale  who  carry  on  busi 
ness  form  more  than  half  of  the  trading  popula 
tion,  but  the  total  value  of  their  income  is  436 
million  roubles  against  489  million  of  the  Chris 
tian  minority.  The  great  majority  of  Jews  are 
small  retail  dealers,  who  earn  from  sixty  to 
eighty  kopeks  a  day,  and  in  order  to  make  this 
minute  profit  they  have  to  carry  on  business  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  hours  daily.  M.  de  Bloch  es 
timates  the  number  of  Jewish  handicraftsmen  in 
the  Pale  at  eighty  per  cent  of  the  entire  number 
of  workingmen,  although  they  constitute  only 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  whole  population. 

When  I  think  of  the  tales,  tragedies,  and  tyran 
nies  the  Jews  have  endured  in  Russia  for  over 
two  hundred  years  I  feel  like  bowing  in  reverence 
before  them,  especially  when  I  recall  that  within 
109 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

the  past  fifty  years,  in  spite  of  the  crimes  and 
barbarities  which  stain  the  pages  of  Russian  his 
tory,  this  synagogue  Jew  has  produced  an  Anto- 
kolski,  whose  fiftieth  birthday  was  celebrated,  a 
few  years  since,  by  artists  all  over  the  world;  an 
Anton  Rubinstein,  in  whom  the  piano  found  its 
greatest  master;  a  Natowitch,  editor  of  the  most 
literary  and  influential  Russian  paper,  Novosti. 
What  scholar  has  not  heard  of  the  greatest  Rus 
sian,  Oriental  and  European  linguist,  Professor 
Khwolson  and  Dr.  Abraham  Harkavi  ?  Or  what 
man  of  affairs  has  not  heard  of  Sachs,  the  super 
intendent  of  the  Russian  railroads;  or  de  Bloch, 
already  quoted,  the  greatest  authority  on  finance 
and  economics  in  that  Slavonic  empire?  What 
student  of  medicine  has  not  heard  of  Dr.  Haffkin, 
who  has  lately  drawn  the  world's  attention  to  his 
medical  discoveries,  was  rewarded  with  medals 
by  various  sovereigns,  and  who  suffered  from 
Russian  tyranny  in  his  younger  days? 

THIRD  —  CHARITY 

In  charity  shines  conspicuously  not  only  the 
no 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

names  of  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  and  the  Baron  and 
Baroness  de  Hirsch,  whose  generosity  while  living 
made  their  names  fragrant  throughout  the  world, 
and  the  latter  when  dying  left  $100,000,000  to 
be  expended  in  carrying  on  the  various  charities 
founded  and  fostered  by  the  baron  and  baroness ; 
but  if  the  bigoted  authorities  of  New  Amsterdam 
who  gave  their  permission  to  a  few  Hebrews 
to  settle  in  their  city,  "  upon  condition  that  they 
should  always  support  their  own  poor,"  could  see, 
as  I  have  before  stated,  how  well  they  have  kept 
the  promise,  made  more  than  two  hundred  years 
ago,  those  old  burghers  would  open  their  eyes  in 
surprise  at  the  many  and  magnificent  benevolent 
institutions,  covering  every  conceivable  case  of 
need,  which  testify  to  the  inborn  kindness  of  the 
Hebrew's  heart. 

The  Jews  of  New  York  alone  for  their  twelve 
leading  charities  contribute  upwards  of  $1,000,- 
ooo  a  year. 

And  as  I  mingle  with  these  people,  and  breathe 
the  spirit  that  animates  them,  and  feel  their  en 
thusiasm  for  humanity  stirring  my  own  pulses, 
in 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

and  see  that  they  are  as  intent  as  Christians  are 
to  do  all  the  good  they  can,  to  all  the  people  they 
can,  in  all  the  ways  they  can,  I  cannot  help  but 
feel  that  their  Father  is  our  Father,  and  that  the 
spiritual  Christ,  the  essential  Christ,  must  be 
their  Lord  as  well  as  ours;  and  while  having  no 
sympathy  with  those  who  would  proselyte  them, 
they  practice  the  Gospel  of  love  as  preached  by 
Christianity,  I  can  take  the  good  Jew  by  the  hand, 
and  with  my  heart  upon  the  lip,  call  him  brother ! 

The  almshouse  has  no  need  to  provide  for  the 
Jew.  If  one  Jew  gets  into  trouble,  all  the  others 
stand  by  him.  The  divorce  court  seldom  hears 
of  him.  He  is  domestic  above  all  men.  Drunken 
ness  is  not  a  Jewish  vice.  The  only  occupation 
that  does  not  thrive  much  among  the  Jews  is  that 
of  the  saloonkeeper.  To  the  Potter's  Field  the 
Jew  is  absolutely  unknown.  With  the  Jew,  next 
to  the  respect  for  the  living  comes  the  veneration 
for  the  dead. 

FOURTH  —  RELIGION 

The  Jew  has  given  to  the  world  the  knowledge 
of  the  only  true  and  living  God.    He  has  given 
112 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

Moses,  who  in  the  twelve  United  States  of  Israel 
gave  to  the  world  the  first  Republic,  and  whose 
laws  after  thirty-three  hundred  years  still  form 
the  basis  of  the  civilized  world's  jurisprudence. 
Jesus,  the  ideal  of  the  race;  Jesus,  whom 
Spinoza  called  "  the  symbol  of  divine  wisdom  " ; 
whom  Kant  and  Jacobi  held  up  as  the  "  symbol 
of  ideal  perfection  " ;  of  whom  Strauss  said,  "  he 
remains  the  highest  model  of  religion  within  our 
thoughts,"  and  Renan  declared  "  whatever  will  be 
the  surprises  of  the  future,  Jesus  will  never  be 
surpassed  " —  this  Jesus  was  a  Jew.  Dr.  Max 
Nordau  voices  the  more  cultured  Jewish  sentiment 
of  our  day  concerning  Christ  when  he  says, 
"  Jesus  is  soul  of  our  soul,  even  as  he  is  flesh  of 
our  flesh.  Who,  then,  could  think  of  excluding 
him  from  the  people  of  Israel?  St.  Peter  will 
remain  the  only  Jew  who  has  said  of  the  Son  of 
David,  '  I  know  not  the  man/  Putting  aside  the 
Messianic  mission,  this  man  is  ours.  He  honors 
our  race,  and  we  claim  him  as  we  claim  the 
Gospels  —  flowers  of  Jewish  literature  and  only 
Jewish." 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

Our  Bible,  the  Old  as  well  as  the  New  Testa 
ment,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  book 
of  Job,  was  written  by  Jews.  What  would  the 
world  have  been  without  the  Bible.  The  coun 
tries  which  are  indisputably  the  foremost  and 
most  enlightened  among  the  nations  are  Bible 
nations.  Where  the  Bible  prevails  intelligence 
rules.  In  every  country  where  the  Bible  does 
not  rule  you  find  man  in  a  semi-barbarous  condi 
tion.  The  most  highly  civilized  and  most  intelli 
gent  people,  the  most  just  and  reasonable  laws, 
humane  and  charitable  institutions  are  to  be  found 
only  in  those  countries  where  the  Jewish  Bible 
rules.  Where  there  is  no  Bible  there  is  no  lib 
erty.  To  it  we  owe  more  liberty  and  civilization 
than  to  any  source  or  power.  Ours  is  the  only 
flag  that  has  in  reality  written  upon  it :  "  Liberty, 
Fraternity,  Equality/'  and  this  great  Republic  was 
founded  by  Bible  believers.  This  Book,  trans 
lated  1604-11,  spread  through  England  and  in 
spired  the  revolt  against  Charles  I.  in  1642.  Its 
"To  your  tents,  O  Israel,"  quickened  the  Puri 
tans  into  action,  and  its  inspiration  caused  them 
114 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

to  ride  into  battle  singing  its  psalms.  It  was  the 
Bible  which  lifted  the  people  of  Europe  into  a 
civilized  condition  and  made  nations  of  them. 
All  the  beneficent  changes  in  the  world  have 
occurred  under  the  dominion  of  the  Bible.  The 
Reformation  —  one  of  the  sublimest  uprisings  in 
the  whole  history  of  the  human  race,  which  de 
veloped  the  human  mind,  promoted  civilization, 
liberalized  men,  destroyed  in  large  measure  su 
perstition,  revolutionized  religious  beliefs,  and 
changed  the  forms  of  governments  —  was  the 
outgrowth  of  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  by 
Martin  Luther,  under  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  the  Jew. 
"  Si  Lyra  non  lyrasset,  Lutherus  non  sal  tasset." 

Liberty,  charity,  and  brotherhood  find  their 
only  place  of  abode  in  Bible  countries.  They 
thrive  upon  the  Bible.  Their  sustenance  is  the 
Bible.  They  worship  at  its  august  shrine,  and 
bow  with  imperial  grandeur  before  its  majestic 
throne. 

This  book  which  attends  us  in  our  sickness 
and  when  the  fever  of  the  world  is  on  us,  tem 
pers  our  grief  to  finer  issues,  enables  us  with  a 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

bright  eye  and  without  fear  to  take  the  death- 
angel  by  the  hand  to  tread  the  way  through  the 
dark  valley,  bidding  farewell  to  wife,  babes  and 
home  in  the  consolation  of  meeting  in  gladness 
beyond  the  tomb;  this  book  on  which  men  rest 
their  dearest  hopes,  and  which  tells  us  of  earthly 
duties  and  inspires  us  with  heavenly  rest  and 
heavenly  reunion  —  for  this  book  we  are  indebt 
ed  to  the  Jews. 

THE  CRUCIFIXION 

But  you  say  the  Jews  crucified  Christ.  The 
unhappy  actors  in  that  scene  were  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles.  In  the  light  of  orthodox  Christian 
teaching  the  Jews  had  no  option  in  the  matter. 
The  shadow  of  doom  was  upon  them  from  the 
beginning  of  days  and  the  growing  sense  of 
this  truth  ought,  among  fair-minded  Christians, 
who  believe  so,  make  Jewish  blame  for  the  cruci 
fixion  a  dead  issue. 

The  rulers  who  were  Romans,  and  not  the 
leaders  of  the  Jews,  were  responsible  for  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ,  but  in  any  case  how  could 
116 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

it  be  the  act  of  the  entire  nation  ?  The  Jews  were 
then,  as  now,  scattered  throughout  the  known 
world.  It  is  related  that  when  Sir  Moses  Mon- 
tefiore  was  taunted  by  a  political  opponent  with 
the  memory  of  Calvary  and  described  him  as  one 
who  sprang  from  the  murderers  who  crucified  the 
world's  Redeemer,  the  next  morning  the  Jewish 
philanthropist,  whom  Christendom  has  learned 
to  honor,  called  upon  his  assailant,  and  showed 
him  a  record  of  his  ancestors  which  had  been  kept 
for  two  thousand  years,  and  which  showed  that 
their  home  had  been  in  Spain  for  two  hundred 
years  before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born ! 

The  common  people  heard  Christ  gladly.  The 
multitude  writhing  beneath  the  Roman  yoke  de 
sired  to  take  him  by  force  and  make  him  king, 
and  when,  at  last,  through  the  treachery  of  his 
own  disciple  he  was  arrested  by  the  Romans  at 
midnight,  and  after  a  hurried  and  illegal  trial, 
during  which  the  mob  was  persuaded  to  cry  for 
his  blood,  by  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  he 
was  crucified  upon  a  Roman  cross.  The  three 
thousand  who  believed  in  a  single  day  on  Pente- 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

cost,  and  the  great  multitude  of  priests  who  were 
obedient  to  the  faith  were  Jews.  All  the  apostles 
were  Jews.  The  Temple  and  the  synagogues  were 
the  first  preaching  places.  Christianity  was  plant 
ed  in  Europe  and  Asia  by  Jews.  In  the  language 
of  Benjamin  Disraeli :  "  It  is,  no  doubt,  to  be 
deplored  that  seven  millions  of  the  Jewish  race 
should  persist  in  believing  only  a  part  of  their 
religion;  but  this  is  owing  largely  to  the  nature 
of  the  persecution  they  received.  When  the  great 
mass  of  the  Jews,  scattered  throughout  the  world, 
first  ever  heard  of  Christianity,  it  appeared  to  be 
a  Gentile  religion,  accompanied  by  idolatrous 
practices.  And  afterwards  when  Romans  and 
Spaniards  were  converted  to  Christianity,  all  that 
the  Jews  in  those  nations  knew  of  Christianity 
was,  that  it  was  a  religion  of  fire  and  sword,  and 
that  one  of  its  first  duties  was  to  avenge  some 
mysterious  and  inexplicable  crime  which  had  been 
committed  years  ago  by  some  unheard-of  ances 
tors  of  theirs  in  an  unknown  land.  These  people 
had  never  heard  of  Christ.  What  they  had  heard 
from  their  savage  companions,  and  the  Italian 
118 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

priesthood  which  acted  on  them,  was  that  there 
were  good  tidings  for  all  the  world  except  Israel ; 
and  that  Israel,  for  the  commission  of  a  great 
crime  of  which  they  had  never  heard,  and  could 
not  comprehend,  was  to  be  plundered,  massacred, 
hewn  to  pieces,  and  burned  alive  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  for  the  sake  of  Christianity.  Is  it, 
therefore,  wonderful  that  the  great  portion  of 
the  Jewish  race  should  not  believe  in  the  most 
important  portion  of  the  Jewish  religion?  "  But 
suppose  Jews  did  accomplish  Christ's  death,  is  it 
fair  to  lay  the  deed  of  a  few  of  his  ancestors 
against  the  Jew  and  his  descendants  down  to  the 
sixtieth  generation?  Would  the  Jews  have  put 
Jesus  Christ  to  death  had  they  believed  him  to  be 
the  Messiah  ?  Hear  Paul :  "  Which  none  of  the 
princes  of  the  world  knew ;  for,  had  they  known 
it  they  would  not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of 
Glory." 

Listen  to  Jesus  on  the  cross :  "  Father,  forgive 
them  (the  Romans  and  Jews  alike),  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do."  Is  it  not  time  that  we 


119 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

forgive  and   forget  what  Christ   forgave  more 
than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago? 

Can  we  wonder  when  we  read  how  the  blood 
thirsty  fanatics  and  tyrants  of  so-called  Christen 
dom,  who  had  never  learned  the  doctrine  that 
Jesus  taught,  scattered  and  slaughtered,  hunted 
and  hated,  banished  and  robbed  the  Jews,  can  we 
wonder  that  the  latter  refused  to  embrace  a  re 
ligion  the  representatives  of  which  instigated  and 
committed  the  crimes  and  barbarities  which  stain 
the  pages  of  history?  To  quote  Benjamin  Dis 
raeli  again : 

"  Perhaps  in  this  enlightened  age,  as  his  mind 
expands,  and  he  takes  a  comprehensive  view  of 
this  period  of  progress,  the  pupil  of  Moses  may 
ask  himself  whether  all  the  princes  of  the  house 
of  David  have  done  so  much  for  the  Jews  as  the 
prince  who  was  crucified  on  Calvary.  Had  it  not 
been  for  Him,  the  Jews  would  have  been  com 
paratively  unknown,  or  known  only  as  a  high 
Oriental  caste  which  had  lost  its  country.  Has 
not  he  made  their  history  the  most  famous  history 
in  the  world?  Has  not  he  hung  up  their  laws 
1 20 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  JEW 

in  every  temple  ?  Has  not  he  avenged  the  victims 
of  Titus  and  conquered  the  Caesars?  What  suc 
cesses  did  they  anticipate  from  their  Messiah? 
The  wildest  dreams  of  their  rabbins  have  been 
far  exceeded.  Has  not  Jesus  conquered  Europe 
and  changed  its  name  into  Christendom?  All 
countries  that  refuse  the  cross  wither,  while  the 
whole  of  the  new  world  is  devoted  to  the  Semitic 
principle  and  its  most  glorious  offspring,  the 
Jewish  faith;  and  the  time  will  come  when  the 
vast  communities  and  countless  myriads  of  Amer 
ica  and  Australia,  looking  upon  Europe  as  Europe 
now  looks  upon  Greece,  and  wondering  how  so 
small  a  place  could  have  achieved  such  great 
deeds,  will  still  find  music  in  the  songs  of  Zion, 
and  still  seek  solace  in  the  parables  of  Galilee." 


121 


IX 

ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

IN  America  the  Jew  has  a  double  claim  to  rec 
ognition  —  the  claim  of  the  man  under  fhe 
wide  tolerance  of  the  twentieth  century, 
and  the  claim  of  the  American  citizen  under  the 
broad  spirit  of  the  American  Constitution. 
Has  he  received  the  treatment  he  merits 
as  a  man,  and  the  rights  he  deserves  as 
a  citizen?  He  is  caricatured  in  the  comic 
papers;  in  our  social,  professional  and  even 
political  clubs  the  Jew  is  blackballed.  The 
wealthy  Jewish  merchant,  looking  for  a  summer 
resort  will  be  handed  a  circular  bearing  the  foot 
note,  "  No  Jews  taken,"  and  I  have  seen  many 
circulars  which  added,  "  Dogs  not  allowed."  The 
Jew  is  excluded  from  society.  Hosts  apologize 

1*3 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

for  the  stranger  by  assuring  you  that  "  he  is  a 
good  fellow,  if  he  is  a  Jew."  Mass-meetings 
have  been  held  within  a  few  years  past  in  several 
of  our  cities  for  the  purpose  of  protesting  against 
the  continual  ill-treatment  and  persecution  to 
which  the  poor  Jews  in  general  and  Jewish  ped 
dlers  in  particular  are  subjected,  not  only  by 
the  hoodlums,  but  by  the  school  children.  In 
Detroit,  the  Mayor  had  to  make  a  special  appeal 
to  the  police  to  prevent  violence  and  injustice. 
In  Chicago,  Mayor  Harrison  sent  a  request  to 
the  President  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  re 
sult  of  which  was  that  the  Superintendent  of 
Schools  issued  instructions  to  the  principals  of 
all  the  schools  to  warn  their  pupils  against  call 
ing  offensive  names,  throwing  stones,  or  other 
wise  injuring  poor  Jews.  These  instructions  were 
carried  out  by  means  of  the  principals.  Arch 
bishop  Feehan  was  also  approached  on  the  sub 
ject. 

I  have  seen  Jewish  children  go  home  from  our 
public  schools  in  tears  because  of  the  offensive 
names  with  which  they  were  taunted.     Outrages 
124 


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2.  O 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

are  frequently  perpetrated  upon  the  Jews  on  the 
East  Side  of  New  York  under  the  very  noses  of 
the  police  —  outrages  which  are  a  disgrace  to 
the  metropolis  of  the  Republic.  While  we  de 
nounce  the  Russian  atrocities,  it  is  well  to  remem 
ber  the  outrage  perpetrated  on  the  occasion  of 
Rabbi  Joseph's  funeral. 

Russian  and  Roumanian  immigrants  who  are 
striving  with  might  and  main  to  earn  a  livelihood 
in  New  York  meet  with  a  reception  from  the  deni 
zens  of  the  streets  not  at  all  creditable  to  the  citi 
zens.  A  writer  in  the  "  Mail  "  witnessed  the  fol 
lowing  incident: 

"  He  stood  on  the  Broadway  walk  in  front  of 
Trinity  churchyard  —  a  Roumanian  Jew,  with 
collar-buttons  and  shoe-laces  to  sell.  Biff,  came 
a  bundle  of  yellow  slips  thrown  by  a  messenger- 
boy,  striking  him  in  the  eye.  He  turned,  blink 
ing  with  pain,  but  he  could  not  run  after  the 
miscreant,  who,  with  his  fellows,  in  glee  was 
dodging  into  the  crowd.  He  could  leave  neither 
his  wares  nor  catch  the  boys. 

"  This  is  something  that  happens  every  day. 

125 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

The  lives  of  vendors  on  the  streets  are  made  mis 
erable  by  the  small  boy.  The  policeman,  too, 
takes  his  share  of  fruit,  of  the  best  on  the  stand, 
always.  The  small  boy  grabs.  Both  are  thieves 
and  work  with  impunity. 

"  Out  of  some  pity  at  the  outrage,  and  may  be 
curiosity,  a  passerby  asked  the  peddler  if  his  eye 
pained  him  badly.  It  was  so  injured  as  to  be 
bloodshot,  and  the  tears  streamed  down  the  poor 
man's  face.  Some  collar-buttons  were  bought, 
and  the  man  forgot  his  pain.  He  had  been  in 
America  a  year,  but  was  not  a  citizen  and  could 
not  vote.  How  much  did  he  make  in  a  day? 
'  Fifty  cents,  sometimes  sixty/ 

"'Wife  and  children ?' 
'  In  Roumania.' 

"  The  fellow  was  surprised  at  being  spoken  to, 
but  he  was  grateful.  There  was  a  very  human 
look  of  thanks  in  his  uninjured  eye.  The  other 
looked  indignant  still." 

It  is  not  to  the  credit  of  the  rich  and  influential 
Jews  of  our  cities  that  they  do  not  seek  to  right 
these  wrongs  heaped  upon  their  poorer  brethren. 
126 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

These  toiling  co-religionists  are  worthy  of  the 
influence  and  assistance  of  their  more  fortunate 
brethren.  The  non-Jewish  world  has  only  con 
tempt  for  the  Jew  who  does  not  seek  to  make 
the  name  of  Jew  respected  throughout  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  nation. 

The  merchant  who  cheats  his  creditor  or  rivals 
his  competitors,  if  he  comes  of  Hebrew  blood, 
has  "  Jew ! "  hissed  at  him.  Judaism  is  made 
responsible  for  every  trick  in  trade.  Do  we  not 
derive  all  our  notions  of  integrity  from  the  Jew, 
who  first  taught  the  world,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
steal  "  and  "  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  "  ? 
"  It  is  an  ill  bird  that  fouls  its  own  nest." 

It  is  just  as  unreasonable  to  use  the  word 
"  Yankee  "  for  all  that  meanness  which,  it  is  said, 
would  cheat  in  the  measurement  if  given  the  right 
to  sell  out  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by  the  pint,  as 
to  make  of  the  word  "  Jew  "  a  verb  to  designate 
taking  advantage  in  trade.  I  have  seen  some 
mean  Yankees  who,  in  the  words  of  another, 
"  with  a  jack-knife  and  a  pine  shingle  could  in 
two  hours*  time  whittle  the  smartest  Jew  in  New 
127 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

York  out  of  his  homestead  in  the  Abrahamic 
Covenant."  But  to  despise  all  New  Englanders, 
among  whom  are  the  largest-hearted  and  biggest 
brained  people  on  earth,  on  account  of  the  pro 
verbial  meanness  and  trickery  of  some,  is  cer 
tainly  unreasonable  prejudice. 

In  Marlowe's  "  Jew  of  Malta/'   Barabbas  is 
made  to  say: 

"  Some  Jews  are  wicked  as  some  Christians  are ; 
But  say  the  tribe  that  I  descended  of 
Were  all  in  general  cast  away  for  sin, 
Shall  I  be  tried  for  their  transgression? 
The  man  that  dealeth  righteously  shall  live." 

Never  was  a  truer  word  spoken;  every  Jew  has 
been  made  responsible  for  the  acts  of  every  other 
Jew. 

With  all  the  rough  handling  the  world  has 
given  the  Jew,  it  is  wonderful  that  he  has  no 
more  faults.  For,  as  Shakespeare  made  Shylock 
to  say :  "  He  has  disgraced  me,  and  hindered 
me  of  half  a  million,  laughed  at  my  losses,  mocked 
at  my  gains,  scorned  my  nation,  thwarted  my 
128 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

bargains,  cooled  my  friends,  heated  my  enemies  — 
and  what's  his  reason  ?  I  am  a  Jew.  Has  not  a 
Jew  eyes?  Has  not  a  Jew  hands,  organs,  di 
mensions,  senses,  affections,  passions?  Is  he 
not  fed  with  the  same  food,  hurt  with  the  same 
weapon,  subject  to  the  same  diseases,  healed  by 
the  same  means,  warmed  and  cooled  by  the  same 
winter  and  summer  as  a  Christian  is?  If  you 
prick  us  do  we  not  bleed?  If  you  tickle  us  do  we 
not  laugh?  If  you  poison  us  do  we  not  die?  and 
if  you  wrong  us,  shall  we  not  revenge?  " 

In  justice  may  the  Jew  apply  to  himself  the 
words  which  the  shepherdess  Sulamit,  in  the 
"  Song  of  Songs,"  addressed  to  the  king's  courtly 
ladies  who  looked  contemptuously  upon  her: 
"  Black  am  I,  but  yet  comely.  Despite  me  not  be 
cause  I  am  somewhat  black.  Is  it  a  wonder  that 
I  am  somewhat  disfigured?  Persecution's  burn 
ing  rays  have  scorched  me  fiercely.  My  mother's 
children  have  indeed  been  angry  with  me.  They 
have  forced  me  to  keep  their  vineyard  and  to 
neglect  my  own." 

Lord  Macaulay  has  truly  said,  "  The  Jew  is 
129 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

what  we  made  him."  Leroy-Beaulieu  forcibly 
says :  "  Their  virtues  are  their  own,  their  vices 
are  our  making.  Their  virtues  are  the  result  of 
Judaic  teaching;  their  vices  are  the  results  of 
circumstances  which  we  have  massed  about  their 
life."  Or  to  use  the  words  of  the  late  Senator 
Vance:  "  If  the  Jew  is  a  bad  job,  in  all  honesty 
we  should  contemplate  him  as  the  handiwork  of 
our  own  civilization." 

In  one  of  the  finest  passages  of  Cumberland's 
u  The  Jew,"  Sheva  answers  Sir  Stephen,  who 
cannot  conceive  that  a  Jew  cannot  lend  even  a 
small  sum  without  the  desire  of  doubling : 

"  What  has  Sheva  done  to  be  called  a  villain  ? 
I  am  a  Jew ;  what  then  ?  Is  that  a  reason  none  of 
my  tribe  should  have  a  sense  of  pity  ?  You  have 
no  great  deal  of  pity  yourself,  but  I  know  many 
noble  British  merchants  that  do  abound  in  pity, 
therefore  I  do  not  abuse  your  tribe." 

The  prejudice  that  still  exists  against  the  Jew 

must  be  traced  to  this  as  one  of  the  leading 

causes.    One  is  made  responsible  for  all,  and  all 

are  made  responsible  for  one.    Paul  and  Iscariot 

130 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

were  both  Jews,  and  yet  many  a  Christian  exe 
crates  the  nation  from  whom  the  betrayer  of  the 
Master  sprung,  and  seems  to  forget  altogether 
that  from  the  same  nation  sprang  Paul,  the  great 
apostle. 

The  teaching  of  the  Bible  can  only  produce 
good.  Why  should  not  the  Ten  Commandments 
promulgated  through  Moses,  have  as  powerful 
and  as  purifying  a  grasp  upon  the  conscience  of 
the  Jew  as  upon  that  of  the  Gentile?  Is  it  fair 
to  let  prejudice  against  individuals  develop  into 
prejudice  against  a  race?  Let  the  reproach  be 
cast  where  it  belongs,  upon  the  individual,  and 
not  upon  the  race.  Alexander  Dumas  said : 
"  When  I  found  out  that  I  was  black,  I  deter 
mined  to  live  so  white  as  to  force  men  to  look 
beneath  my  skin."  That  ought  to  be  the  spirit 
and  ambition  of  every  man  who  belongs  to  a 
persecuted  race.  I  believe  that  Judaism  has  a 
mission,  and  if  I  were  a  Jew  I  would  be  proud 
of  it.  Heine  said :  "  The  History  of  the  Jews  is 
beautiful;  but  our  modern  Jews  are  standing  in 
the  light  of  the  ancient  ones,  who  certainly  de- 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

serve  to  be  held  in  greater  esteem  than  either 
Greeks  or  Romans.  I  believe  if  the  race  as  such 
was  extinct,  and  a  rumor  got  abroad  that  there 
was  a  specimen  of  that  people  living  somewhere, 
they  would  travel  a  hundred  miles  to  see  that 
individual  and  shake  hands  with  him  —  and  now 
they  are  shunning  us."  But  people  will  not  shun 
you  if  you  are  a  good  Jew.  If  I  were  a  Jew, 
I  would  stand  up  for  my  rights;  I  would  be 
neither  uppish  nor  iconoclastic ;  I  would  not  sneer 
at  the  synagogue,  nor  reject  all  the  traditions  and 
customs  of  Judaism;  I  would  not  be  close  and 
hard  in  business;  I  would  never  take  advantage 
in  a  bargain;  I  would  not  higgle  for  the  lowest 
penny  when  paying,  or  the  highest  when  making 
a  sale;  I  would  not  pay  a  minimum  of  wages 
and  exact  the  maximum  of  work;  I  would  not 
be  suspicious  of  anyone's  honesty ;  I  would  not  be 
small-souled,  selfish,  grasping,  narrow-spirited, 
envious  and  jealous;  I  would  be  large  hearted, 
noble  spirited,  generous  to  the  very  utmost  of 
self-sacrifice;  I  would  seek  to  have  my  life  one 
unflawed  crystal,  to  make  weighty  my  influence 
132 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

for  truth  and  nobleness;  I  would,  in  short,  make 
the  word  Jew  stand  for  all  that  is  great,  good, 
and  grand  in  character. 

Judaism,  the  mother  of  Christianity,  is  still  a 
living  force,  and  he  is  the  best  Jew  whose  heart 
beats  with  the  purest  pulse  towards  God  and 
man,  and  not  he  whose  head  spins  the  finest 
theological  cobwebs. 

"  'Tis  not  the  wise  phylatery,  nor  stubborn  taste, 

not  stated  prayers 

That  makes  us  saints :  we  judge  the  tree  by  what  it 
bears." 

The  social  standards  of  the  Jew  are  just  as 
low  and  just  as  fine  as  other  people's  in  cor 
responding  position.  Money  often  gets  ahead 
of  the  manners  of  Jew  and  Gentile  alike.  No 
people  suffer  more  on  account  of  the  vulgar  Jews 
than  the  highminded  and  refined  Hebrew  men 
and  women.  Are  there  not  Gentiles  who  can  be 
described  exactly  in  the  same  terms?  Where  do 
you  find  the  parvenu  in  American  society  ?  How 
many  people  do  you  know  who  have  had  two 

133 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

generations  of  continuous  wealth  and  the  condi 
tions  of  refined  society  ?  Israel  Zangwill  has  well 
said :  "  Possibly  some  few  Jews  who  have 
gained  money  before  they  have  had  time  to  gain 
culture  may  be  a  little  loud  and  a  little  unpleas 
ant  to  many  gentlemanly  Americans  of  the  same 
income.  But  exclusion  carries  with  it  such  tre 
mendous  dangers  and  such  perils  of  resuscitating 
the  old  mediaeval  savagery  which  Americans 
came  to  overthrow,  that  this  deadly  weapon  of 
social  excommunication  should  be  resorted  to 
only  whenever  any  other  method  fails.  And  as 
one  who  has  closely  studied  the  Jewish  character 
in  its  shades  as  well  as  its  lights,  as  one  who  has 
always  written  without  fear  or  favor,  I  can 
assure  our  squeamish  and  impatient  American 
aristocrats  that  the  disappearance  of  any  unpleas 
ant  social  taints  in  the  Jew  is  only  a  question  of 
one  generation. 

"  The  most  offensive  Jew  who  has  made  money 
is  humbly  anxious  for  his  children  to  have  better 
social  advantages  than  he  had.  And  from  the 
strident  and  assertive  Jews  who  have  grown 

134 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

coarse  in  the  struggle  for  existence  will  come  the 
quiet  and  cultivated  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
will  be  an  enormous  force  for  good  in  the  Amer 
ica  of  to-morrow.  The  same  is  true  of  Americans 
at  large,  not  merely  Jews." 

THE  ANTI-SEMITE  A  COWARD 
The  anti-Semite  is  a  coward.  The  cry  of  the 
Jew-hater  is  the  cry  of  the  beaten  man.  The 
best  man,  as  a  rule,  wins.  If  you  want  to  know 
why  the  Jews  win,  read  the  names  published  an 
nually  of  the  public  school  children  who  have 
passed  the  examinations  for  entrance  to  the  sub- 
freshman  class  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York.  There  are  the  Cohens,  Cosinskys,  Levys, 
Greenbaums,  Sesmorskys,  Sapiros,  Fleishers, 
Bernsteins,  Rosenbergs,  Goldsteins,  Kopfsteins, 
Czarkowskis,  and  other  names  of  unmistakable 
Jewish  families  from  Germany  and  from  Rus 
sia,  and  very  few  names  of  children  of  American 
descent.  Fifty  per  cent  of  the  students  of  Colum 
bia  University  are  Jews;  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York  is  known  as  "  the  Jews'  College  " ; 

135 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

they  are  busy  qualifying  themselves  for  success, 
and  while  we  are  reviling  them  they  are  broaden 
ing  their  minds. 

With  the  exception  of  Russia,  the  Jews  are 
more  hated  in  Austria  than  in  any  other  country 
on  earth.  Although  the  Jews  form  hardly  five 
per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  Austrian 
kingdom,  they  contribute  more  than  nineteen  per 
cent  to  the  students  at  the  Austrian  universities. 
In  the  Vienna  University  forty  per  cent  of  the 
students  are  Jews  and  thirty  per  cent  of  the 
teachers  are  Jews.  In  the  Budapest  University  a 
third  of  the  professors  are  of  Jewish  origin.  In 
the  classical  and  high-schools  of  Hungary  twenty 
per  cent  of  the  pupils  are  Jews,  although  they 
constitute  but  little  more  than  four  per  cent  of 
the  population.  In  the  intermediate  schools  of 
Austria  77  per  cent  are  Jews.  Eighty-five  per 
cent  of  the  successful  lawyers  of  Berlin  are  Jews, 
and  the  percentage  is  about  the  same  of  the  great 
and  lucrative  business  of  all  sorts  in  Germany. 
In  Germany  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Jews ;  they  are  pushing  the  Christian  to  the  wall, 

136 


DISTIN 
GUISHED 

AMERICAN 

EDITORS. 


1.   FABIAN  FRANKLIN  2.   WILLIAM  FRISCH 

Baltimore  News  Baltimore  American 

3.   JOSEPH  PULITZER,  New  York  World 
EDWARD  ROSEWATER  5.   ADOLPH  S.  OCHS 

Founder  and  Editor  New  York  Times  and 

Omaha  Bee  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger 


ANTI-SEMITISM  IN  AMERICA 

therefore  the  Jew  must  be  banished.  Only  a 
decadent  race  need  fear  the  Jew,  and  if  the 
German  or  the  Frenchman  is  afraid  of  him,  so 
much  the  worse  for  the  German  or  the  French 
man. 

We  hear  this  same  cry  in  New  York,  Phila 
delphia,  Baltimore,  and  other  cities  —  that  the 
banks,  the  newspapers,  the  theatres,  the  great 
mercantile  and  manufacturing  interests,  business 
of  the  high  value  and  the  small  are  in  the  hands 
of  the  Jew.  Now,  why  is  the  Jew  getting  on? 
I  recently  spent  a  few  days  in  some  libraries  on 
the  east  side  of  New  York  —  libraries  patronized 
largely  by  Russian  and  Polish  Hebrews.  Any 
librarian  in  the  city  will  tell  you  that  these  young 
Jews  are  the  most  remarkable  readers  in  the  city 
—  they  read,  and  devour  American  history  and 
biography,  philosophy  and  science.  There  is  little 
call  for  books  in  their  own  language.  The  desire 
seems  to  be  to  leave  foreign  literature  behind 
when  the  old  country  is  abandoned. 

Everywhere  the  Jew  is  disciplining  his  reason 
ing  powers,  and  learning  how  to  do  better  work, 

137 


THE  JEWS  IN  AMERICA 

which  insures  that  success  which  clamor  and  com 
plaining  never  win.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  Jew 
is  winning;  it  were  strange  if  he  did  not  win.  If 
the  Jew  continues  as  he  has  begun,  he  will  hold 
the  future. 


138 


ill  the  Coming  Man 
Marry? 

A  "Book  for  the  Times 

BY 

MADISON  C.  PETERS,  D.D. 


A  book  which  appeals  to  every 
woman  as  well  as  man,  exposing  the 
dangers  to  the  home  and  setting 
forth  the  only  safe  principles  of  a 
happy  married  life.  Full  of  startling 
information  on  marriage  and  di 
vorce.  A  warning  to  the  woman 
and  an  appeal  to  the  man. 

12mo.    180  pp.    Bound  in  Cloth, 

With  Attractive  Cover  Design. 

Postpaid,  $1.00. 


THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA 


"Something  Every  Young  Man  Should  Read" 

PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  DrWiTT  HYDE 

The  American  Boy  and 
— The  Social  Evil — 

From  the  Standpoint  of 
a  Physician 

By  ROBERT  N.  WILLSON,  M.D. 

instructor  in  Medicine  and  University  Physician,  University  of  Peoisylvanli 

FOUR  PRACTICAL  TALKS  TO  YOUNG  MEN 

1.  "  The  Nobility  of  Boyhood :  The  Boy's  Part 

in  Life's  Problem." 

2.  "  Clean  Living ;  A  Problem  of  School  and 

College  Days." 

3.  "The  Social  Evil  in  America." 

4.  "  The  Relation  of  the  Citizen  to  the  Social 

Evil." 

A  book  that  parents  can  give  their  sons,  containing 
exact  and  necessary  information  and  treating  of  sub 
jects  which  parents  can  explain  to  their  children  only 
with  difficulty,  yet  told  in  a  plain  and  judicious  way. 

A  Guide  to  Health,  Purity  and  Honor 

12mo.  160  pp.  Bound  in  cloth  with  attractive 
cover  design.  Postpaid,  $1.00. 


THE  JOHN  C.  WINSTON  COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 


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